Collin County Beefs Up Its Technology

Collin County is the first community in Texas to put its cattle branding registry online.

The county's information technology department has created software that allows ranchers to register their livestock and tattoos online.

"The old method was all paper," County Clerk Stacey Kemp said.

Cattle brands mark an animal with a unique design so it can be identified if the animal is lost or stolen.

In Collin County, the process dates back to the 1860s -- and so did the registration process. Ranchers registered animals in huge, handwritten albums that can take 40 minutes or longer to fill out.

Deputy Clerk Tonya Kellogg said the animal owner has to draw the brands in three different places, as well as on a card and again on an application.

But the county's new technology streamlines the process. Online registration takes about two minutes.

Clerks in the nation's fastest-growing county now have more time to record information for things such as birth certificates and new businesses.

The county's IT department is also developing other software that allows people to do more from their home computers and smartphones without physically visiting county buildings.

The county said all of the new online technology is being built at no expense to taxpayers.

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