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Joining Forces to Secure Digital
Joining Forces to Secure Digital

Access to Public Land Records
Access to Public Land Records

nment R
ames Thew
elations Committee Chair
o
, LS, NYSAPLS G
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By James Thew, LS, NYSAPLS Government Relations Committee Chair
y J
v
er
During our strategic retreat in 2022, the challenge of accessing of resources in Region 8 preventing the fulfillment of FOIL requests.
public land data was presented. Members shared their frustration with In turn NYSDOT provided NYSAPLS with the appropriation mapping
the ability to acquire appropriation mapping and other NYS public for Dutchess County along with an Excel file containing the cross
agency data. Securing our members’ access to these critical public reference for the map numbers and TIFF images along with other
land records became a permanent part of our 3-year strategic plan. pertinent information.
In early 2024, the NYSAPLS Executive Board proposed combining Greg de Bruin is working with this dataset to further enhance the
the Legislative Committee and the Ad-Hoc NYSDOT Committee into beta GIS. If any Surveyor’s require any Dutchess County appropriation
the Government Relations Committee, with a goal of enhancing digital mapping, please contact Amber Carpenter with the State Highway No.
access to public records with New York State government and its and map number and we will gladly provide the required mapping.
associated agencies. The quest for digital access to public information is not limited to

The Committee remains focused on working with representatives of the NYSDOT. The Committee, through an effort led by Roy Garfinkel,
NYSDOT in creating a vehicle whereby NYSAPLS membership can recognizes that the County Clerks play a critical role in providing
search for and obtain appropriation mapping through an on-line public information (e.g., deeds, maps, etc.) through on-line formats.
portal available to the public. Based on recent communications with There are some Counties in New York State (e.g., Lewis, Onondaga,
NYSDOT, it seems that they recognize the value of making available to Ontario, Tompkins) that have embraced the concept of transparency
the public in a “self-serve” capacity. and have made most recorded information available on-line.
In 2023, NYSDOT provided a subset of the appropriation mapping The Committee is currently organizing a virtual meeting with
for Albany County along with a PDF file of a spreadsheet that various County Clerks across the state to discuss the challenges and
references the map number to the appropriation mapping TIFF opportunities for enhancing on-line access to public information. We
images. From this dataset, Greg de Bruin created a searchable GIS for are currently targeting a mid-August meeting date. This campaign will
retrieval of the appropriation mapping, which was introduced at the continue with “NYS Alliance for Digital Access to Public Records”
2024 Annual NYSAPLS Conference. round table meetings at the New York State GIS Association Annual
Recently, we have received feedback from NYSAPLS membership Conference in September 2024 and at the NYSAPLS Annual Conference
regarding continued issues with the FOIL process for NYSDOT Region 8 in January 2025.
and more specifically in Dutchess County. The Committee brought this Stay tuned! We look forward to continuing working for NYSAPLS
concern to our colleagues at NYSDOT, who admitted there is shortage Membership in enhancing digital access to public records.

EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 60 • NO 5 2024 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 23