Letter: Recorder’s office needs support to work properly

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.

As a former Clark County Recorder (first elected in November 1974; retired in January 1995), I feel compelled to voice my opinion regarding the pro-con topic in Sunday's paper: "Should county recorder's office be eliminated?" My opinion is no.

To begin with, no matter who is in charge of the recorder's office, sufficient budget/staffing is essential to do the job. If the clerk were to take over the recorder's duties, wouldn't she have to delegate someone to be in charge, as in the Commission Division, Marriage License Division, Marriage Commissioner, etc.? Given the population growth, generating an ever increasing recorded document volume, wouldn't the workload continue to grow?

The current trend in refinancing, as well as our unique, somewhat transient society constantly selling old and buying new homes, add to the document recording workload. I would venture a guess that an efficient recording process is in place, and that insufficient staffing is the crux of the problems and backlog.

The recorder's workload has many detail-oriented duties that include accepting or rejecting a wide variety of documents to be recorded; most pertain to real estate, but many such as marriage certificates and military discharges do not. Providing a legible, easily accessed microfilm record is a manually intensive job. Ideally, timely recording, access to the record, and prompt return of the documents and certified copies would be normal. Statute does specify "record without delay." Delays can be costly to the parties involved; reason enough to have sufficient staff.

Ultimately, the recorder's budget is in the hands of the Board of County Commissioners, which can provide the wherewithal to make the job doable, or not. Presently the elected county recorder is accountable to the voters. To my way of thinking, that is as it should be. Let's give the new recorder a chance to prove her capability, and give her some help instead of criticism.

JOAN L. SWIFT