FARMINGTON -- A for-profit electronic-document company seeking access to land records stored in county registry offices in order to resell the information is stepping up pressure.

In an Oct. 22 letter sent to the Franklin County Register of Deeds, MacImage of Maine LLC says the county has until Oct. 29 to respond to a Freedom of Access Act request for copies of its electronic records.

MacImage's attorney, Sigmund Schutz of Preti Flaherty, wrote that if the county does not meet the deadline, the request will be considered to have been denied and the company will appeal to Superior Court.

On Monday morning, Franklin County's attorney, Frank Underkuffler, met with the county commissioners and Registrar of Deeds Susan Black in an executive session. Afterward, they would say only that a response will be available Thursday.

The company has sent similar letters to other counties that have not yet complied with MacImage's request.

Last week, Maine's Legislative Council accepted two research bills that would prevent for-profit companies from buying land records from county offices and reselling them for a "significantly different" price.

Rep. Patsy Crockett, D-Augusta, said she submitted a bill on behalf of the Maine County Commissioners Association. Rep. Sharon Anglin Treat, D-Hallowell, submitted a similar bill on behalf of the Maine Registers of Deeds Association.

After being accepted by the Legislative Council on Thursday, the bills were sent to be drafted into legislative documents and referred to a committee.

MacImage is requesting access to inspect and copy all land records on county registry Web sites. The lengthy list includes indexing data, electronic document images of land records, and user names and passwords so it can inspect and copy the index data and document images.

According to the company, once the system is set up, it intends to file additional Freedom of Access requests with the registers of deeds daily, if necessary, to keep its Web site current.

"Electronic copies of register documents are clearly public records subject to Maine's (Freedom of Access Act) law. After all, the primary purpose of recording a document in the registry of deeds is to provide public notice of ownership rights to all prospective property buyers," according to a letter to Franklin County from MacImage's general manager John Simpson.

The latest letter expands the request. MacImage now also wants copies of any public records -- meeting minutes, audio tapes, agendas and copies of documents -- in which county commissioners considered and/or set the fees for copies of paper and electronic copies of documents filed in the registry of deeds.

It also wants all e-mails and correspondence sent to or received by the register of deeds or county commissioner's office in the past two years in which fees for electronic copies are mentioned.

It requests all correspondence, including e-mails, between the register of deeds and the company currently providing the county's document-recording software that mentions MacImage's request.

MacImage first requested access to Franklin County's electronic land records in a Sept. 25 letter. Black and the commissioners wrote back, saying her office needed time to analyze the request and determine what a reasonable fee would be.

"We also need to determine if we have the capability of providing such a vast amount of data as requested," she wrote.

In a related issue, a ruling recently handed down in Hancock County Superior Court found that county officials there broke the state's Freedom of Access law by not allowing MacImage to obtain land records at a reasonable fee.

The court found the per-page fees charged for electronic copies would not be reasonable when applied to a request for thousands of pages. MacImage contended that under the law, "a reasonable fee" is only the overall cost of printing electronic files. The court also ordered Hancock County to pay all of MacImage's court costs,

Beverly Bustin-Hatheway, president of the Maine Registers of Deeds Association, has said the group has yet to take a stance on MacImage's proposal.

Counties allow the public to view their records free, either online or at the office, but charge for certified copies. MacImage would also allow customers to view records for free and pay a fee -- 75 cents per page -- to print copies, according to the company.

In Franklin County, copies cost $1 a page; Kennebec County charges $1.50. Some counties charge for viewing deeds and other information. Black said Franklin County does not.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com