Perrell running for reelection for Washington County recorder of deeds
Carrie Perrell announced that she is running for reelection for Washington County Recorder of Deeds in this year’s Republican primary.
Perrell, of Nottingham Township, is in the fourth year of her first term as recorder of deeds after winning election in 2021.
“I am honored to have served as an elected official these past few years,” Perrell said. “If reelected, I will continue to serve Washington County taxpayers with integrity while seeking additional ways to modernize and improve our service.”
Key improvements made during her first term include direct deposit of local real estate transfer taxes for all municipalities and school districts, increased hours for recording documents, new public computers, a dedicated backup server and a completed pilot project for indexing historical documents.
Direct deposit of local transfer taxes has resulted in cost savings by eliminating the need to purchase, print, and mail checks. This has also increased convenience to county municipalities and school districts, saving trips to the bank and allowing for more accurate bookkeeping.
Credit is given to her staff for their cooperation in staggering lunch hours to accommodate the public wishing to record during the lunch hour. This change has added more than 200 hours per year of availability for recording documents at no additional cost to Washington County taxpayers.
Real estate sales and the oil and gas industry are also two important contributors to Washington County’s economy. Because conducting property searches is essential to these businesses, the recorder of deeds office seeks to be an asset to those industries through new upgraded computer equipment allowing for efficient property searches.
A pilot project, indexing historical documents from the late 1700s to early 1800s, was completed during this first term with plans to expand this project over the next few years. Historical indexing allows for easier genealogy searches. Currently indexing only goes back to the 1940s. Completing this project will allow for easier research back to the founding of Washington County.
Finally, securing the data of the recorder of deeds’ office is essential. As such, the office has contracted with the current land management software company. Now the data of the Recorder of Deeds office is backed up on a dedicated server and is updated daily.
“Washington County residents deserve to have elected officials who uphold the standard ‘of the people, by the people, for the people,'” Perrell said. “I believe I embrace this standard, and I ask the people of Washington County to allow me the privilege of working for them an additional four years by way of a second term.”