Want to Know More?
Facts and figures about the Allen County Recorder's Office and John McGauley's ideas for the future


1.  What does the Allen County Recorder do?

2.  What has John McGauley done during his first term as Allen County Recorder

3.  What would John McGauley do with a second term?

4.  Can I still hear John's 2006 radio ad?

What does the Allen County Recorder do?

The Allen County Recorder is responsible for numerous tasks that have a direct impact on the ability of employers and private citizens alike to conduct business and complete transactions.

The county recorder's function is to record and maintain permanent public records involving a wide variety of instruments. These documents detail transactions involving real estate, mining, personal property, mortgages, liens, leases, subdivision plats, military discharges, personal bonds, etc.

Of particular interest is the fact that the recorder maintains and preserves all legal documents affecting title to real property. These records are the legal basis for determining ownership.

The specific duties of the Recorder are spelled out in Indiana Code 36-2-11.

For more information, check out the Allen County Recorder's Office web site at www.allencountyrecorder.us.

Back to the Top




What Has John McGauley Done During His First Term As Allen County Recorder?

It has been my goal to redefine how the Recorder’s Office can best serve its customers, throwing out the concept of “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”

To that end, we have implemented many cutting-edge changes since I took office, including:

•  Making it possible for our customers to access more than 40 years of data and documents available online, a library that is growing in size every week.

•  Becoming the first (and so far only) county in Indiana to begin recording documents over the web, allowing customers to do business without having to come downtown.  Efficiencies realized through e-recording saved 60 hours of staff time in the first year alone.

•  Protecting you and your neighbors from identity crimes by beating a state deadline to remove Social Security numbers from millions of documents and by becoming the first county in Indiana to implement an automated property fraud alert system.

•  Reducing the turnaround time for document recording from 8-10 weeks to as little as one day.

•  Learning to do more with less during difficult economic times by reducing our staff size by 25 percent and cutting our use of tax dollars by 60 percent.

•  Building an online “Neighborhood Resource Center” that allows homeowners to locate and download hard-to-find neighborhood covenants free of charge. This ambitious project won the Association of Indiana Counties’ 2009 County Achievement Award.

•  Launching a quarterly user group meeting that allows our customers to have a direct voice in how the Allen County Recorder’s Office serves them.

•  Began offering searchable recording data online, providing customers with instant access to recording dates, document numbers and other data at no charge.


Back to the Top




What Would John McGauley Do With A Second Term As Allen County Recorder?

If re-elected, it would be my top priority to continue building the Recorder's Office into an example of how things can be done when our leaders think with customers and efficiency in mind.  My goals include:

•  Continuing the advancements in online accessibility, customer service and consumer protection made during my first time to ensure that they become permanent institutional practices.

•  In my role as a member of the Indiana Recorder’s Association legislative committee, promoting legislative changes that will strengthen the recording process in ways that protect all Hoosiers from property related fraud.

•  Working to make the Allen County Recorder’s Office even less reliant on property taxes by finding and implementing new efficiencies that will make the office faster and less costly.

•  Completing the digitization of all frequently used Allen County Recorder’s Office records so that they are preserved for posterity and available for electronic searching (whether in the office or online). If financially possible, ALL recorder’s office records should be digitized for historic preservation.

•  Expanding the ability of professional searchers and the public to utilize our electronic collection through the addition of additional search terminals as records are digitized and moved from the office into permanent storage.

•  Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy to make sure that we serve the public better by taking services we offer.


Back to the Top




Can I Still Hear John's 2006 Radio Ad?

Absolutely!  When I ran for my first term as County Recorder in 2006, we put together a radio spot that ran during the last two weeks of the fall campaign.  It was intended to be a funny spoof of a negative attack ad.  The response was more than I ever could have imagine.

The Indianapolis Star's Matt Tulley said it was the best political ad to air statewide that year.  The panelists of "Indiana Week In Review," which airs statewide, also called it the best political spot of 2006.

It will be hard to top that in 2010.  But you can sure bet we are going to try.  Click here to listen to the spot.

Back to the Top