Residents Getting a Leg Up in the Paper Chase : East county: People can tap into a computer in Simi and order copies of documents stored in Ventura.

If you can withdraw $20 from your local ATM machine, you should be qualified to order vital records from a new computer at the East County Courthouse in Simi Valley.

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“This is convenient for east county residents, and it’s one more thing that they won’t have to drive to Ventura for,” said Keith Jajko of Supervisor Judy Mikel’s office.

Designed to be easy to understand, the new computer is operated by simply touching the screen.

The system guides the user through the process with prompts such as “Please be patient while your search is made,” in either English or Spanish.

You can order copies of vital records such as marriage and birth certificates, and records of deeds, mortgages and liens on property.

Copies of the documents are paid for by inserting a credit card into the machine. The records will be mailed to the user’s home address within a few days.

The new kiosk--called a Government Access Terminal, or GATE--was designed and built by the Newbury Park multimedia company Milestone Interactive. The software to run the machine and the interactive video cost about $18,000.

In 1993, the company installed four kiosks at the Government Center in Ventura. Those touch-screen computers were used for information purposes only, and informed users on where to locate government offices and what county services were available.

“In showing that product to county recorders we received a lot of requests to expand the service,” said John Kling, president of Milestone Interactive. “Many wanted remote access for areas that were distant from the county seat.”

Taking one of the original county kiosks, the company beefed up the system by adding sound and the ability to search and order documents from the county recorder’s office, Kling said. Kling hopes to build similar systems for other counties throughout the state.

“The primary goal is to provide service for residents of eastern Ventura County,” he said. “It will also be a demonstration site for other counties interested in the service.”

Situated in the south lobby of the courthouse, at 3855-F Alamo St. in Simi Valley, the new system has had about 80 people a week use it since it was installed about a month ago, Jajko said.

Few of those users have ordered documents. “I think the people using it are curious at this point, I don’t think everyone realizes you can order documents with it,” he said.