Montgomery County Register of Wills Tina Lawson announced last week that her office has cleared a $100 million backlog of inheritance checks and tax returns, writes Katie Bernard for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A news release that referred to a “whirlwind first 100 days in office” for Lawson, a Democrat who started serving in January, said that the office worked as fast as possible to get through 65 bins of stockpiled checks and returns. The backlog has now been reduced to two and a half bins of documents.

The release did not explain how the backlog, which was previously not disclosed to the public, was discovered.

The register of wills and clerk of Orphans Court is in charge of handling inheritance tax filings, marriage licenses, probate, and adoption proceedings for the county.

Since taking over from Bruce Hanes, a Democrat who held that position since 2008, Lawson has worked on modernizing the office. This includes replacing a handwritten log of checks received in the office using newly purchased processors and scanners.

“I’m trying to make the office run more efficiently,” said Lawson. “(Residents) need services. We need to be responsive.”

Read more about the $100 million backlog cleared by the Montgomery County Register of Wills office in The Philadelphia Inquirer.