In the August primary, two Republican candidates will face off in the race for Recorder of Deeds: Incumbent Debbie Dunnegan of Hillsboro and challenger Sam Goodrum of Imperial. The winner will face Democrat Mike Bone of De Soto on Nov. 4.
Recorder of Deeds is a four-year term and, like most county offices, has a salary of $79,169.
Dunnegan, 50, lives at 6220 Hwy. Y in Hillsboro. She is married to Ken Waters and has one child. She is a graduate of NorthwestHigh School and JeffersonCollege, and has 10 years of experience in land record searching and more than 18 years of administrative experience. She is serving her first term as recorder.
She has served on the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee since 2008 and was a committeewoman with BigRiverTownship from 2009 to 2013. She has served on the Grandview Board of Education since 2002 and is an active member of FriendshipChurch in Cedar Hill. She has been a children’s camp counselor and is an Adopt-A-Highway volunteer.
Goodrum. 5023 Scenic View Acres Drive in Imperial, did not return a Leader questionnaire.
What does a county recorder of deeds do? What experiences have equipped you for the job?
Dunnegan: The ownership of property is the foundation of a free people. The county recorder’s office was established to track the ownership of all real estate. There is not a system like ours anywhere in the world. JeffersonCounty’s history and heritage are wrapped up in these records. It is the recorder’s responsibility to protect and preserve these records. As a seventh-generation JeffersonCounty resident, I understand the importance of this responsibility and take it very seriously. My dad, mom, uncle, cousin, brother and I have been involved in land record searches in one way or another for the past 50 years. I understand how crucial it is that these records are accurately maintained. The recorder’s office also issues and stores marriage licenses and our service personnel’s DD214 forms.
What do you view as your major accomplishments during your time in office?
Dunnegan: Deeds dating back to 1819 have been imported into our computer database and are available online. There is no longer a need to travel to Hillsboro to perform a search; handling of the books and microfilm is a thing of the past. A subdivision database has been created, making it possible to search properties by legal description. This was never possible before. The search tool, called an index, is being revised to eliminate errors and increase the amount of data entered making document search and retrieval faster. To date 237,452 document entries have been revised. Electronic recording began in 2011. An average of 45 percent of our daily recordings are now received electronically, decreasing service times from days to hours. A disaster recover plan and a property fraud alert system have been perfected.
What changes to you plan to enact in the next four years, if elected?
Dunnegan: I am currently working on a veterans honor rewards program that will give our veterans discounts with participating retailers and other services. I am also about to wrap up importing the last batch of microfilm in to the computer. We will continue revising the index. I will begin to get all the marriage records imported into the computer so that genealogy searches can be performed online. It is my hope that the good citizens of Jefferson County will allow me a second term to see these things through.
Why should voters choose you?
Dunnegan: For the reasons stated above, I am the best candidate for this position. It is my understanding that my opponents have no knowledge of land records nor the importance of them.