Faster and easier
Have you ever wondered how many houses in Marion County contain eight bedrooms? The answer is four.
How about how many houses that come equipped with five full-sized bathrooms? There are two located in Marion County.
Those are just a couple quirky facts about real estate in the county. Where can you find them?
Just surf on over to http://www.marion.kansasgov.com, and click on the "Appraiser" link. You'll find yourself a step away from the parcel search function of the county appraiser's office.
The new site went online July 1, and it's a treasure trove of information for the real estate agent, the homebuyer, or the merely curious.
Type in any search term — name of homeowner, address, appraised value — and you can find the specifics on any property in the county. Right down to the number of bathrooms a house has.
Does that mean you can get the "down and dirty" on your neighbor's house? Your boss' business?
Absolutely. This new site makes it easy to get that information.
But what many people may not realize is this: That information was already available to the public. Has been for years.
The public just has a much better way of accessing it now.
Some people get uncomfortable when they realize this kind of information is out on the open. Is it an invasion of privacy?
Absolutely not. There's a wealth of public information out there available to anybody — anybody who's willing to look for it, that is.
Take the Social Security Death Index. If you're researching family history, the SSDI is an invaluable tool — you can easily access it at www.ancestry.com.
Before the advent of this site, you could have gotten the same information, but you'd have to write a letter and wait. Today, just head to a Web site and get the info you need almost instantaneously.
The information was there all along; now it's just easier to get to.
As more and more public agencies transfer their data to the Internet, Americans should be glad. Public information is becoming that much easier to get to by the people who need it most.
The public.
— JENNIFER WILSON
