Three in running for county registrar’s post

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Incumbent Register of Deeds Kandance Whitehead will face two challengers in the May 6 primary.

Certified Public Accountant Jim Maudlin and Waccamaw Bank employee Janie Caswell are the only other candidates to file for the position. Caswell formerly worked for the registrar’s office.

The register of deeds office is the depository for most official documents, including birth, marriage and death certificates, property transfers, and other business.The records are permanent, and open to public inspection under state law.

The registrar is one of the oldest government positions in the United States, having descended from a political appointment determined by the king starting in the 17th century. Registrars were first required to keep track of land grants, rents and other business. Over the years the job expanded to include all official records.

Traditionally, the term register of deeds actually refers to the official book where all documents were recorded, a process now largely replaced by computerized filing.

The person who recorded the information was called the registrar until well into the 20th Century, and is still officially referred to as such in some North Carolina counties.

Whitehead is 37, Mauldin is 60, and Caswell is 48. All three candidates were asked the following questions:

•What are your professional and educational qualifications?

•Why are you the best candidate for this position?

•How would you improve the register of deeds’ office?

Kandance Whitehead

Whitehead, who is seeking her third four-year term, came to work at the deeds office when she was 21. A spring 1992 graduate of Southeastern Community College with a degree in business, she began work at the deeds office that fall.

Whitehead lives in Whiteville but is from Cerro Gordo. She has two children.
In 2007, Whitehead received her advanced certification as a registrar. Only 48 registrars from across the state attended the seminar put on by the Institute of Government, and of those, 43 completed the course.

Whitehead said the certification did not increase her salary, which is set by the county commissioners.

“I wanted that certification to be able to better serve the people of Columbus County,” she said. Under her administration, the county began transferring documents to a digital format as a backup to originals. Personal records such as marriage licenses, birth certificates, and death certificates cannot be made available online, due to identity theft and security problems. All other documents will soon be available online or at the registrar’s office.

The switch to digitized documents was crucial, Whitehead said.

“Except for the copies in the state records,” she said, “there was no backup to many of these documents.” A number of old records had been removed from their binders, while others were in delicate condition.

Whitehead said documents are scanned into a computer and filed within minutes of being presented to the deeds office.

“The law requires deeds be recorded immediately,” she said. “Some people think deeds can be held back for a period of time, but that is not the case. After we began upgrading the system in 2005, that became much faster and easier.”

Janie Caswell

Caswell worked in the registrar’s office for five years, and said Friday she knows how the offce works.

“I have the know-how to record documents, issue vital records and manage the office,” she said, “not just with proficiency, but with a friendly, personal approach.”
Caswell will graduate Mount Olive College’s Wilmington campus in September with a degree in business administration. She also worked for the Department of Social Services here for four years. She currently is employed with Waccamaw Bank in Whiteville.

Openness is important in the registrar’s office, Caswell said.

“Knowing that all documents, with the exception of military discharges, are public record, I will not make false promises to keep records private,” she said. “The state law mandates they be open to the public for all citizens to view, if they so choose.”
Caswell lives in Chadbourn, and has one grown daughter.

Jim Mauldin

A Vietnam veteran, Jim Mauldin said he can see the “big picture.”

“You can’t get caught up in what’s right there around you and lose perspective,” he said. “I know how that office should look and operate.”

Mauldin, 60, graduated high school in St. Pauls in 1966, and served four years in the military. After his discharge, he obtained a degree in business and worked for the old Pioneer Savings and Loan, which later became People’s, for 10 years. He graduated UNC-Wilmington with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1982, and in 1984 became a certified public accountant (CPA). He runs his own accounting firm in Whiteville.

“I believe in fairness, openness and hard work,” Mauldin said. “Internally, I think I can make the register of deeds office more efficient. The records prior to 1978 still need some work, and some other records take 30 to 60 days to access.”

Mauldin said having a grasp of long-range planning is essential.

“If you can’t envision what it looks like now, or what it will look like,” he said, “you can’t make that happen. I know what to do to make it run more efficiently and provide better service for the citizens of Columbus County. I know what that office entails, and what’s required to do the best job, and I’m prepared to do what it takes.”
Mauldin and his wife Joyce live near Whiteville. They have two daughters and several grandchildren.