As Iowa prepared for electronic recording, Iowa County Recorders came together to design a statewide solution. With few models to follow, recorders partnered with Iowa State University's Community Vitality Center to establish the County Land Record Information System (CLRIS), which became the foundation of what is now Iowa Land Records.

Development of CLRIS continued, creating the framework for a centralized statewide system that would connect Iowa counties and provide public access to land records.

The Iowa Land Records website and Search services are launched, giving the public free search access to county land records. The first electronic document was recorded in Allamakee County, Iowa Land Records was established as a public 28E organization, and the project received the Technology Association of Iowa's Internet Initiative of the Year Award.

Electronic recording was officially available in all 99 Iowa counties, making Iowa one of the first states in the nation to implement a statewide land record system. At the time, nearly half of the recording jurisdictions capable of electronic recording nationwide were Iowa counties. Iowa Land Records received a National Association of Counties Achievement Award recognizing this statewide accomplishment.

The database surpassed 10 million document records, demonstrating the value of a truly statewide land records platform as 99 counties continued to grow its shared system.

Third-party submitters began electronically recording documents through the system, making services available to more people. Iowa Land Records also launched a statewide initiative to redact personally identifiable information while maintaining public access to records.

Legislation supported Iowa's statewide redaction initiative, helping ensure sensitive information would be protected through consistent policies across all counties.

Iowa Land Records partnered with the Iowa Department of Revenue to electronically record tax liens and releases. 

The ESS (ILR) Governing Board also adopted comprehensive Policies and Procedures to strengthen governance and operational consistency.

The ESS Governing Board adopted standards requiring parsed legal descriptions in county indexing systems, helping improve search accuracy, consistency, and usability across Iowa.

Requirements for electronically recording surveys and plats were adopted, the Index Legend was implemented, and Iowa Land Records began participating in Iowa Department of Revenue Safeguard Reviews to strengthen security.

The E-Submission recording stamp was updated to include service fees, providing additional flexibility for submitters to manage transaction costs and streamline the recording process.

New payment service providers were selected to improve payment processing for a more reliable and efficient user experience.

Planning began for a redesigned E-Submission experience and future modernization efforts, including development for informational and training pages on the ILR public website.

Milestone

41.83% of all documents recorded in Iowa were recorded electronically.

As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily operations, Iowa Land Records helped counties continue their work of recording documents through established electronic services. ILR also introduced updated APIs and new policies to support modernization.

Milestone

52.16% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

Legislation reaffirmed Iowa Land Records' 28E governance structure and provided additional flexibility to support future investments in statewide services.

Milestone

55.67% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

Over 22 million searchable documents are availble on ILR.

A redesigned E-Submission interface was launched, simplifying the recording process for its users. Planning also began for a new land record search platform, and a new user management system was implemented.

Milestone

59.91% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

ILR launched a redesigned statewide search application to enhance the improved scalability, security and the overall user experience.

Milestone

62.12% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

Iowa Land Records completed its migration to cloud-based infrastructure, surpassed 23 million land records, and conducted a statewide stakeholder survey to help guide future priorities.

Milestone

67.23% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

Over 23 million searchable documents are availble on ILR.

Iowa Land Records conducted a statewide stakeholder survey to help guide future modernization priorities for its services.

Milestone

71.39% of Iowa documents were recorded electronically.

Over 25 million searchable documents are available on ILR.

The Iowa Land Records database surpassed 25 million records, marking more than two decades of statewide collaboration and innovation. What began as a vision for online access has become one of the nation's most successful statewide land records systems, delivering efficiency, transparency, security, and convenience to counties, businesses, and citizens across Iowa.