Register of Deeds Grant Program

OSBM is administering a Register of Deeds Grants Program as appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly in Section 24.2 of the Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2021 (SL 2021-180). 

Applicants may use grant funds for the preservation of historic records and files. Allowable uses of the funds include, but are not limited to, document restoration, reparation, deacidification, and placement in protected archival binders. Funds may be used for document digitization only if the original documents will continue to be maintained and preserved.

The maximum grant each office may receive in the first round of funding is $2,000. Grantees must provide a 100% match for grant funds. 

Application Process

To apply, Register of Deeds offices must have submitted an application to OSBM. The deadline to apply has now passed and OSBM isn now reviewing applications. 

Applicants must provide a completed W-9 using this upload link. Please use your county name in the file name you upload (for example: Sample-County.pdf).

Grant recipients will have to report to OSBM on their grant funded activities. 

If you have questions about the application process, please contact OSBM-RDGrants@osbm.nc.gov.

Reporting Requirements 

Recipients will provide a quarterly report until all the grant funds are expended. Reporting deadlines are as follows:

April 10 for expenditures made January 1 – March 31
July 10 for expenditures made April 1 – June 30
October 10 for expenditures made July 1 – September 30
January 10 for expenditures made October 1 – December 31

If a report due date falls on the weekend, the submission deadline is automatically extended until Monday.

Technical Assistance for Register of Deeds Offices

If your office needs technical assistance with record preservation, we encourage you to contact the Government Records Section of the State Archives. The State Archives also has a number of resources available to local governments on their website.