Two new bills were approved by the Crenshaw County Commission to be introduced as legislation in both the Alabama House of Representatives and to the State Senate. Both bills would directly affect the Probate Office in Crenshaw County.

According to Crenshaw County Probate Judge Jim Perdue, the two bills would work &#8220hand in hand to help the Probate Office become more efficient in its record keeping and in the recording of vital records for Crenshaw County citizens.”

&#8220They would also help to streamline the process of buying car tags for citizens,” he added.

The one-stop tag bill would make tag purchasing much easier, Perdue said.

&#8220Instead of citizens having their vehicle assessed and taxed at one office, the Revenue Commissioner's office, and then purchasing their tag at a second office, the Probate Office, this bill will enable the county to combine these processes into one stop, which would be in the Probate Office,” Perdue said.

Another plus to the one-stop tag bill, according to Perdue, is that people would be able to purchase their tags online (via the computer), for example, or even through the mail.

The second bill would include introducing a $5 recording and filing fee and a $10 fee for cases filed in the Probate Office. In addition, a $4 tag fee will also be included in the bill.

&#8220When it comes to the record keeping process that Crenshaw County currently uses, we still index every document that is submitted to our department by hand,” Perdue said. &#8220These documents are also cross-indexed by hand. The fees from this bill will enable us to scan records, computer index records and provide back-up records in the years to comeŠ..Almost every other county in the state already does this.”

Perdue said that the $5 recording fees and the $10 fees for probate cases are &#8220very small when compared to other processes, which include legal fees, surveys and title searches.”

&#8220The $4 tag fee, which represents less than two gallons of gas per year per vehicle, will help to fund these much-needed technological improvements throughout the courthouse,” he said.

Both bills must be approved by both houses of the Legislature first, and then signed by Gov. Bob Riley into law before they can be enacted.

If this takes place, the earliest the one-stop tag bill could go into effect would be Jan. of 2008, only upon the approval of implementation by a resolution of the Crenshaw County Commission.