And - despite a recently revamped nepotism rule - more than a third of the employees are related to other workers in the office. One administrator's spouse even works for SIRE Technologies Inc., the software company in question.

Those allegations highlight complaints by two former recorder's office employees, including one who spent 18 years as a supervisor.

Both ex-workers insist County Recorder Gary Ott purposefully kept service orders with SIRE under $10,000 - the threshold that triggers competitive bids.

"The way they get around things is to do separate orders," says Becky Jordan, the former supervisor. "There was an awful lot of money going out to [SIRE]."

Jennifer Reichert, a 15-year county employee who spent five years in the recorder's office, says the relationship with SIRE was "out-and-out favoritism."

Ott "has really promoted them," she argues. "There was a lot of cute stuff going on."

The latest revelations come less than a week after Salt Lake County Auditor Sean Thomas launched an investigation into transactions between the recorder's office and SIRE.

Ott defends the deal, saying he followed all the contract rules "in place at the time." He does not dispute that some of his employees are related to one another - or that the husband of one of his division bosses works at SIRE - but he insists none of the workers is supervised by a family member.

In addition, Ott argues his office consistently saves the county money by budgeting frugally and trimming his work force, thanks to the automation software.

Even so, the total taxpayer cash delivered to SIRE is "in the millions," according to Doug Willmore, the county's chief administrative officer.

An initial contract with SIRE, then called Alphanumeric and later AlphaCorp, reportedly was bid in 1996 for Web-scanning services - although Jordan disputes that other vendors ever were sought. In 2004, Ott agreed to pay the Salt Lake City-based company an additional $437,750 over four years for off-site record storage.

That contract never was bid, and now is the subject of scrutiny by the auditor, mayor's office and County Council.

Ott concedes several other orders ended up exceeding the $10,000 bid requirement. But he points to a 2002 district attorney's office memo he says provided license to continue the business relationship.

"We believed we had the ability to buy upgrades for five years without going through the bid process," he says. "If you're driving a Chevy, you don't want to put Ford parts in it."

Ott says the two former employees were discipline problems who left under fire - Jordan was terminated and Reichert quit - and maintains their accusations are sour grapes.

Matthew Bowman, spokesman for SIRE, would not comment on contract details or the nepotism allegations.

"The assumption is the people you are dealing with are following their internal procedures and doing what they need to do," he says. "We're just a vendor."

Victor Sipos, special assistant to the auditor, says the probe will address contracts, evolving expenditures and improper personnel connections.

Roughly since the time Ott took office in 2000, three recorders in other counties have signed SIRE to handle document management. Two hired the company after they were invited by Ott to witness system demonstrations.

"He talked about their good program, and we went down to see how it works," says Laile Lomax, chief deputy recorder for Davis County, which contracted with SIRE last year.

Tooele County officials also were invited to demonstrations, but did not attend. They selected SIRE two years ago after a bid process, notes Recorder Calleen Peshell.

Since 1999, Summit County also has used the company. Recorder Alan Spriggs remembers he became familiar with the software system after a presentation offered by then-Salt Lake County Recorder Nancy Workman.

Ott concedes he promoted the technology to colleagues in other counties but insists he reaped no personal gain.

"I'm not a salesman," he says. "I'm just enthusiastic for what the product does."

But Jordan says her former boss was "pushing it so hard, there must have been a kickback."

The audit also will examine questions surrounding Dustin Butler, a SIRE programmer who once worked in the recorder's office and is the son of County Surveyor Vaughn Butler.

Reichert alleges 18 of the 52 recorder's employees work with relatives in the office. One, she adds, went from the office to SIRE as a programmer and then back again.

She says complaints fell on deaf ears, prompting her exit last year.

"I am sick and tired of them getting away with what they've gotten away with," Reichert says.

djensen@sltrib.com