Dare County Register of Deeds. The contest is between Cheryl House, Republican, and incumbent Democrat Vanzolla McMurran.

Cheryl House

Business owner

Age: 54

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1093, Kitty Hawk, NC 27949-1093

Contact Phone: (252) 619-8747

Email Address: cheryl.house.obx@gmail.com

Position/philosophy statement: Register of Deeds office should be focused on accurate preservation of records and exceptional customer service to the public

Vanzolla McMurran

Dare County Register of Deeds

Age 56

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1597, Manteo, NC 27954

Contact Phone: (252) 473-5255

Describe the skillsets that you possess that make you the most qualified candidate for this office.

House: As a business owner I know the importance of keeping accurate records while staying well within budgetary restraints. More importantly I posses many years of experience as a supervisor in the Medical Field. As you can well imagine the strict regulations and policies of keeping confidential personal medical records, I can relate those practices to the vital records of Dare County.

McMurran: I have 37 years of experience in this office. I started here in 1981 as a Deputy Register of Deeds, and a few years later I was promoted to Assistant Register of Deeds. I became the Register of Deeds in 2009. When I was hired in 1981, I was trained to do everything in the office. There is nothing in the Office that I can’t do. I will not have to be sent to school or be trained by the office staff. All Register of Deeds have to be certified and I have gotten my certification so I won’t have to go to school to be taught things about the Register of Deeds Office. An unexperienced Register will have to take the test and pass in order to get certified. That’s wasting taxpayers money.

What is the most important or most challenging issue for the Register of Deeds’s office currently?

House: As having been a witness to and hearing from others the most challenging issue confronting our Register of Deeds office is customer service. The good citizens and visitors of Dare County are our employers and they should be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. When a request is made for information it should be expedited accurately and respectfully. The Outer Banks has been come a renowned place for destination weddings. Register of Deeds office issues many Marriage Licences, and in most cases this is the first legal act a couple makes together. This is a special occasion and should be handled with joy from a representative of The Dare County Register of Deeds Office.

McMurran: The most challenging issue for the office right now is trying to get all our real estate records scanned on the computer. Right now you can only view documents that were recorded after December 13, 1999 forward. Once we are able to do that then all our real estate records can be viewed from anywhere. It will make it so the customers will not have to keep lifting heavy books and there won’t be so much wear and tear on our record books. We are currently in the process of scanning all our vital records manually so that will preserve the old birth and death records that are crumbling.

Do you believe the Register of Deed’s office receives sufficient funding to operate effectively?

House: Support

McMurran: The candidate chose not to mark a box

If no, what services could be improved with more funding?

House Candidate has not yet responded.

McMurran: No, I do not believe that the Register of Deeds office receives sufficient funding to operate effectively because if we did I would have all the real estate records from December 13, 1999 back scanned in the computer. I did present in my last 2 year budget a quote from a preservation company that would come in and fix the very old birth and death records from getting worse but they denied the proposal, so we are doing it manually. We have tried to scan our real estate documents manually but right now the vendor hasn’t come with a way for us to do it but I’m not giving up. With sufficient money we could hire our vendor to do it in a matter of weeks.