2026-04-22 Release Notes - SDL Desktop Version 26.4.1

Code Enforcement

Easier certificate creation, cleaner violation notices, and better handling of bulk violations.

Improvements

Dynamic fields for certificates

SDL Desktop now supports dynamic fields in Code Enforcement Certificate templates, allowing municipalities to include application-specific data directly in the certificate's Purpose field.

What's new:

• Two new dynamic fields are available for Code Enforcement Certificates: [Address] and [Expiration Date].
• [Address] populates with the Location Address of the certificate application.
• [Expiration Date] populates with the expiration date of the specific certificate application.
• Dynamic fields work consistently with how they function in RTF templates.

How it works:

1. Open a Code Enforcement Certificate template (via the "…" button next to the Certificate Type dropdown) and locate the "Purpose" field.
2. Insert [Address] and/or [Expiration Date] placeholders where the values should appear.
3. When the certificate is printed, the placeholders are automatically replaced with the actual values from that application.

Impact: Staff can now create certificate templates that automatically display the correct location address and expiration date per application, eliminating the need for manual edits at print time. Existing certificate templates are unaffected.

Lead Certificate Types

SDL Desktop now supports Lead Certificate Type functionality, enabling better data tracking for lead certification programs.

What's new:

• The Lead Type column on the Lead Certificates data grid is now functional.
• Users can select certificate types such as Three Year Lead Cert, Certified Lead Free, or Post 1978 Construction.
• The Default Certificate Type setting in Lead options now correctly references Certificate Type (previously mislabeled as Inspection Type).

How it works:

1. Navigate to Tools > Code Enforcement Options > Lead.
2. Set the Default Certificate Type as needed.
3. When creating or editing Lead Certificates, select the appropriate Lead Type.

Impact: Staff can now properly categorize and track different types of lead certifications, improving reporting capabilities and data organization.

Bulk abatement dates for quick-add violations

SDL Desktop now allows setting a single abatement date for all violations when quick-adding multiple violations.

What's new:

• A "Set Abatement Date for All" option is available during the quick-add multiple violations process.
• Individual violations can still have their abatement dates overridden after the bulk date is applied.

How it works:

1. Begin the quick-add process for multiple violations.
2. Use the new bulk abatement date option to set a date for all violations in the batch.
3. Optionally, override individual violation dates as needed before saving.

Impact: Staff can efficiently create multiple violations with the same abatement date without having to edit each one individually, streamlining the violation creation workflow.

Bug Fixes

License department info printing

Fixed an issue where department info text was being cut off or overlapping with the logo on Code Enforcement license printouts.

What was fixed:

• Multi-line department info text now prints correctly.
• Text positioning prevents overlap with the logo image.

Impact: Licenses print with complete, properly formatted department information for a professional appearance.

Inspection report signatures

Fixed an issue where signatures on Code Enforcement inspection reports were not properly sized or positioned to cover the name and signature line.

What was fixed:

• Signature images now properly cover the name text and signature line.
• Signature positioning is consistent with other report signatures.

Impact: Inspection reports display properly formatted signatures for a professional, official appearance.

Violation notice text overlap

Fixed an issue where multi-line Infraction Location text would overlap with the statute text on violation notices.

What was fixed:

• The spacing between location and statute sections now adjusts based on the number of lines in the location field.
• Multi-line locations display correctly without overlapping other content.

Impact: Violation notices are readable and professional regardless of location field length.

Update All Registry Owner button

Fixed an issue where clicking "Update All Registry Owner" would cause newly added property registry records to disappear from the display until saved.

What was fixed:

• The data grid display now correctly refreshes after the Update All operation.
• New records remain visible and can be opened for editing immediately.

Impact: Staff can use the Update All feature without confusion about missing records.

Construction

Smoother letter printing, better permit numbering control, and more reliable payments and syncing.

Improvements

Automatic signature on letters

SDL Desktop now supports automatically applying the Construction Official's signature to letters, eliminating the need for manual signing.

What's new:

• Letters (such as Inspection Notice Letters) can now include the Construction Official's signature image automatically.
• A new option allows administrators to toggle the signature line on or off for specific letter types in the Alternate Letter Options.

How it works:

1. Navigate to Tools > Construction Options > Plan Reviews > Alternate Letter Options.
2. Enable the automatic signature option for the desired letter types.
3. When letters are printed, the Construction Official's signature image is automatically applied.

Impact: Construction Officials no longer need to manually sign routine letters, streamlining document preparation while maintaining professional correspondence.

Statute rules sorting

SDL Desktop now sorts statute rules in the Construction Violations dropdown to match the order configured in Construction Options.

What's new:

• The statute rules dropdown in Construction Violations now displays items in the same order as they appear in Construction Options > General tab.

Impact: Staff can locate statute rules more quickly since the dropdown order matches their configured preference, improving data entry efficiency.

Permit update number override

SDL Desktop now allows users to override the automatic permit update number when creating permit updates.

What's new:

• An input prompt appears during "Make Update Permit" showing the auto-generated permit number and allowing letter suffix override.
• Duplicate permit number validation prevents conflicts.
• The system keeps the internal counter synchronized after overrides.

How it works:

1. Click "Make Update Permit" on a permit.
2. Review the auto-generated update number (e.g., permit+A, permit+B).
3. Optionally change the letter suffix if needed to avoid duplicates or skip to a specific letter.
4. The system validates against existing permits before creating the update.

Impact: Staff can resolve duplicate permit number situations and maintain proper sequencing when manual adjustments are needed, without creating conflicts.

Bug Fixes

Online payment request saving

Fixed an issue where online payment requests via MuniciPay were failing to save properly when creating mass ongoing location invoices with credit card payment links.

What was fixed:

• Online payment requests now save correctly without generating E_FAIL errors.
• Invoice history records are properly created during the payment process.

Impact: Staff can successfully create and process online payment requests for ongoing applications without encountering save errors.

UCC-L700 report summary

Fixed an issue where the "Print just the summary page" option for the UCC-L700 report was not including all "Other Fees."

What was fixed:

• The summary-only report now includes all fee categories that appear in the full report.
• Totals are calculated correctly with all fee types included.

Impact: The summary report provides accurate totals matching the full report, ensuring reliable financial reporting.

Permit status with Certificate Approvals

Fixed an issue where the permit status would display as "Finals Passed" if the permit had both passed final inspections and a denied Certificate Approval.

What was fixed:

• Permit status now correctly displays "Prior Approval" if the final inspections are passed but there's a denied certificate or prior approval.

Impact: Permits now display the correct status on the form and data grid.

Inspection sync (hosted)

Fixed inspection synchronization issues where inspections created in SDL Desktop were not syncing to the portal for some hosted clients.

What was fixed:

• Inspections now sync reliably to the portal when saved.
• The sync process handles all inspection records consistently.

Impact: Inspections entered in Desktop are available on the portal as expected, ensuring data consistency across platforms.

Engineering

More consistent Road Opening printouts and a fix for the Assigned To dropdown.

Improvements

Road Opening Permit printout improvements

SDL Desktop has updated the Road Opening Permit printouts to ensure consistency.

What's new:

• The permit printouts on the Closure tab and Permit tab are now consistent with each other.
• Layout improvements have been applied based on user feedback.

Impact: Staff receive consistent, professional permit documents regardless of which tab they print from, improving document quality and reducing confusion.

Bug Fixes

Assigned To dropdown

Fixed an issue where the "Assigned To" dropdown in Engineering Road Openings was blank after switching modules.

What was fixed:

• The dropdown now populates correctly regardless of which module is active when the program loads.
• The inspector/user list loads consistently without requiring option toggles.

Impact: Staff can assign road openings to users without needing to restart the application or toggle settings.

Fire Prevention

Bulk renewal emails, better property linking, a new "Withdrawn" violation status, and several smaller fixes.

Improvements

Bulk email for Renewal Applications

SDL Desktop now includes a bulk email option for Fire Prevention Renewal Applications, enabling staff to send renewal notifications to multiple applicants at once.

What's new:

• A new "Bulk Email" option is available in the data grid Edit menu when two or more Renewal Application records are selected.
• Staff can now send renewal application emails to multiple recipients in a single operation.

How it works:

1. Navigate to the Renewal Applications data grid in Fire Prevention.
2. Select two or more records using the checkboxes.
3. Click the Edit button and select the new Bulk Email option.
4. Confirm the action to send emails to all selected applicants.

Impact: Staff can efficiently notify multiple applicants about their renewal applications without emailing each one individually, significantly reducing administrative time during renewal periods.

Property linking for inactive records

SDL Desktop now allows new property records to be linked to a Block/Lot/Qualifier when all existing linked properties are marked as inactive.

What's new:

• Parcels can now be linked to multiple properties as long as there are no active ones.
• The "Is NOT Active" checkbox now enables proper re-linking workflows.

How it works:

1. Mark existing property records as inactive using the "Is NOT Active" checkbox.
2. Create a new property record and link it to the same Block/Lot/Qualifier.
3. The system allows the link since no active properties exist for that parcel.

Impact: Fire Prevention staff can properly maintain property records when ownership changes or properties are redeveloped, without losing historical data.

Violation "Withdrawn" status

SDL Desktop now allows Fire Prevention violations to be closed as "Withdrawn" in addition to "Abated."

What's new:

• A new option when closing violations allows selecting "Withdrawn" status.
• The status column displays "Withdrawn" instead of "Abated" for violations that were rescinded or issued in error.

How it works:

1. Open a violation that needs to be closed.
2. Select "Withdrawn" if the violation was rescinded or issued in error, or "Abated" if it was corrected.
3. The appropriate status displays on all relevant windows and reports.

Impact: Fire inspectors can accurately track violation outcomes, distinguishing between violations that were actually corrected versus those that were withdrawn, improving reporting accuracy.

Quick Violation Description — source independence

SDL Desktop now allows Quick Descriptions to be added regardless of the source selected in the Quick Violation dialog.

What's new:

• Quick Descriptions now populate data regardless of the selected source in the Source Dropdown.
• Previously, only Quick Descriptions tied to a statute that matches the selected source would appear in the list.

Impact: Staff can use any configured Quick Description without needing to first select the matching source, streamlining the violation entry process.

Bug Fixes

Expiring permits display

Fixed an issue where expired miscellaneous permits continued to display on the Fire Prevention home page after their expiration date.

What was fixed:

• The "Expiring Miscellaneous Permits" section now correctly removes permits after they have expired.

Impact: The Fire Prevention home page displays only relevant expiring permits, providing accurate at-a-glance information.

Detector inspection checkbox

Fixed an issue where the portable fire extinguisher checkbox on detector inspection requests would automatically re-check itself after being unchecked.

What was fixed:

• The checkbox state now saves correctly when unchecked.
• The form respects user changes to this field.

Impact: Staff can accurately record inspection request details without the system overriding their selections.

Online payment expiration update

Fixed an issue where the permit expiration update prompt was not appearing after processing online payment requests (MuniciPay).

What was fixed:

• The expiration date update prompts now appear consistently for online payments, matching the behavior for cash, check, and card swipe payments.

Impact: Staff receive the appropriate prompts to update permit expiration dates regardless of payment method.

Activity Month multi-edit

Fixed an issue where the Activity Month multi-edit feature was setting the month to one month ahead of the selected value.

What was fixed:

• Selecting a month now sets the correct activity month value.
• The off-by-one error has been corrected.

Impact: Staff can reliably bulk update activity months without manual correction.

Fire Investigations grid

Fixed an issue where the Fire Investigations data grid would not open records if the user switched to a different module and back to Fire Prevention.

What was fixed:

• Fire Investigation records now open correctly regardless of module switching.
• The grid functions properly without requiring an application restart.

Impact: Fire Prevention staff can work across modules without losing access to Fire Investigation records.

Health Pro

Separate license numbering by type, Ward visibility for smarter scheduling, and cleaner license printouts.

Improvements

Unique license numbers by license type

SDL Desktop now supports separate consecutive numbering for each Health Pro license type.

What's new:

• Food Licenses, Mobile Food Licenses, Vending Machines, and Special Events can each have their own independent numbering sequence.
• License numbers are automatically generated based on the specific license type's sequence.

How it works:

1. Navigate to Health Pro Options.
2. Configure the starting number for each license type that requires independent numbering.
3. New licenses are automatically assigned the next number in that type's sequence.

Impact: Municipalities can maintain organized, type-specific license numbering systems that align with their internal tracking requirements.

Ward field on applications and inspections

SDL Desktop now displays Ward information on Food, Bathing, and Sewer Applications and Inspection forms, enabling location-based scheduling.

What's new:

• A Ward field has been added to all health applications and inspection forms.
• Ward values are automatically populated when an application is linked to a parcel.
• Inspectors can view ward/zone values when scheduling inspections.

How it works:

1. Link an application to a parcel using the standard linking process.
2. The Ward field automatically populates based on the GeoWard layer data.
3. When scheduling inspections, view the Ward column to organize by geographic area.

Impact: Health departments can now schedule inspections based on geographic wards, enabling more efficient route planning and workload distribution.

Bug Fixes

General License border option

Fixed an issue where General Licenses would display a border even when the border option was set to "none" in the license type settings.

What was fixed:

• The border setting is now correctly applied when printing licenses.
• Navigating directly to the License tab without visiting Payments first no longer causes incorrect borders.

Impact: License printouts appear exactly as configured without unwanted borders.

Land Use

Faster daily reconciliation and more powerful bulk editing on violations.

Improvements

Total Collected on Daily Bank report

SDL Desktop's Daily Bank report now includes a Total Collected amount, making it easier to reconcile payments.

What's new:

• A new "Total Collected" line has been added to the Daily Bank report.
• This total represents the sum of all Cash, Check, and Charge amounts collected within the date range.

Impact: Staff can now quickly see the total amount collected without manually adding up individual payment types, simplifying daily reconciliation processes.

Bulk edit additional violation fields

SDL Desktop now allows bulk editing of Abatement Date and Immediate Fee amount when editing multiple violations simultaneously.

What's new:

• The bulk edit popup for violations now includes Abatement Date as an editable field.
• The Immediate Fee amount (from the Closure tab) can now be edited in bulk.

How it works:

1. Navigate to the Violations data grid.
2. Select multiple violation records.
3. Click the Edit button to open the bulk edit options.
4. Set the Abatement Date or Immediate Fee values to apply to all selected violations.

Impact: Staff managing cases with dozens of related violations can now update abatement dates or fees for all violations at once, saving significant time when case details change (such as court date postponements).

Pet Licensing

A cleaner inspector list and more accurate reporting on renewal operations.

Improvements

Active inspectors only

SDL Desktop now displays only active inspectors in the Pet Licensing inspection form dropdown.

What's new:

• The inspector dropdown only shows currently active inspectors.
• Historical inspections with inactive inspectors will still load correctly and display the original inspector name.

Impact: Staff see a cleaner, more relevant list of inspectors when scheduling inspections, reducing confusion and data entry errors.

Bug Fixes

Blank license report format

Fixed an issue where the Blank Pet License report was not using the alternate renewal letter format when that option was enabled.

What was fixed:

• The Blank Pet License report now respects the "Use Alternate Renewal Letter" and "Use Alternate Renewal Letter 2018" options.
• The report format matches the renewal letter format based on settings.

Impact: Blank pet license reports are consistent with renewal letters, maintaining uniform document appearance.

Renewal email count reporting

Fixed an issue where the bulk renewal email completion message incorrectly reported successful sends for records without email addresses.

What was fixed:

• The confirmation message now accurately reports only emails that were actually sent.
• Records without email addresses are correctly excluded from the sent count.

Impact: Staff receive accurate feedback about bulk email operations, allowing proper follow-up on records that couldn't be emailed.

Complaints

One-click property linking from coordinate data.

Improvements

Complaint coordinate linking

Added a button to run the "Find Closest Property" function for all complaints with X/Y coordinates but no location data.

What's new:

• "Find Closest Property" button added under Tools > Options > Workflow.

Impact: Staff can quickly link complaints to properties using coordinate data without the need to edit each record.

All Modules

Cross-cutting fixes that keep reporting, online payments, and polish consistent across the whole application.

Improvements

Typos and spelling errors

Fixed numerous spelling errors throughout SDL Desktop for a more polished experience.

Bug Fixes

Professional Certificate module assignment

Fixed an issue where Professional Certificate payments were being assigned to the incorrect module.

What was fixed:

• Payments now use the department from the fee type and certificate type configuration.
• Daily bank reports show certificate payments under the appropriate module.

Impact: Financial reports accurately reflect professional certificate payments in the correct module.

MuniciPAY online payments

Fixed an issue where online payments would not appear on the SDL Desktop home page.

What was fixed:

• MuniciPAY payments now redirect citizens to the SDL Portal, ensuring callback data is captured by the SDL Portal and delivered to SDL Desktop.

Impact: Online payments are now accurately reflected in SDL Desktop, ensuring financial reports can be run without manual intervention.

Released April 22, 2026 · SDL Desktop 26.4.1