Becker County is moving towards making the County Recorder position appointed rather than elected.
That would make the county recorder a department head appointed by the county board, like the county assessor, rather than one elected by county residents, like the auditor-treasurer.
The county recorder position has been elected since the county was organized in 1871.
The main job of the County Recorder is to accept and maintain a permanent public repository of real estate records, according to the Minnesota Association of County Officers.
“Types of documents in the repository include deeds, mortgages, contracts for deed, mortgage satisfactions, foreclosure records, probate documents, and easements. In Minnesota there are two systems of public real estate records, Abstract and Torrens,” the association explained on its website.
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“We’re looking at the county recorder position,” Board Chairman Barry Nelson said at the county board meeting Tuesday. “We’re not acting on this today.”
No official vote was taken, but Nelson determined that there was a general consensus among the five county commissioners to move forward with the change.
“If you’re not strongly opposed to this, we would like to move forward,” he said. “If there is strong opposition, we want to know it. We don’t want a bunch of turmoil over it — nobody wants to throw themselves on a sword over it.”
The other commissioners voiced support for the change, although Commissioner Richard Vareberg said he could see both sides of the issue and didn’t have strong feelings either way.
The process will now get rolling.
“We need to advertise (the proposed change) in the newspaper for two weeks straight, and at the next board meeting (Nov. 16) we’ll discuss whether to move on it,” Nelson said. A public hearing will be held at that time, and after public testimony closes, the board will take action.
The change requires a supermajority vote of the board (meaning four of the five commissioners must support it) and if that happens, commissioners will make it known that “it would be our intent to make that a permanent appointive position,” Nelson said.
The public then would have 30 days to file for a reverse referendum to keep the position elected, he added. That would require a petition signed by over 2,000 county residents — the actual number of petition-signers is calculated based on 10% of the number of county residents that voted in the last election.
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“We would start advertising (for the position) and maybe interviewing prior to that 30-day window,” Nelson added. “If we don’t hear anything, we could make the appointment.”
Two months from now would be “the shortest possible timeline to fill that position,” he added.
If the County Board ultimately doesn’t approve the change, the position will go on the ballot for the Nov. 3, 2022 general election, said Becker County Auditor-Treasurer Mary Hendrickson.
The position opened up with the recent death of County Recorder Patty Swenson, 51, who worked in the Becker County Zoning Office for over 20 years and was first elected Becker County Recorder in 2014.
Under state law, each Minnesota county must have an elected county auditor, treasurer, sheriff, recorder, attorney, and coroner. Only seven counties — Aitkin, Big Stone, Grant, Mahnomen, Meeker, Red Lake, and Roseau — have not consolidated offices and still elect all those positions. Becker County earlier consolidated its auditor and treasurer offices into the auditor-treasurer's office, which remains an elected position.
