For the second year in a row, Somerset County voters will be asked in the November election to change the county’s register of deeds from an elected to an appointed position.

A majority of voters made it clear in 2023 that they do not support that change. But the problem, Somerset County officials say, is that it has been difficult recently to find a qualified candidate to run for the top job at the Registry of Deeds, which is vacant.

Nobody is on the ballot to fill the spot this year, though the registry’s office manager is running as a declared write-in candidate.

“You have fewer and fewer people taking out papers to run for elected positions,” County Administrator Tim Curtis said. “There’s the need to take a look at these processes that were established well over 100 years ago of electing certain positions. Is it the best way to fill those positions?”

The register carries out a crucial function of county government, overseeing the Registry of Deeds in Skowhegan that records and files many kinds of documents pertaining to real estate.

There is no set salary for the position in Somerset County. Instead, it is negotiated; the salary would be in the $50,000 a year range, Curtis said.

The extensive record keeping, dating back more than two centuries, helps to preserve Somerset County’s heritage, the registry’s website says. The department is also one of the only in the county that generates more revenue than what it expends, in recent years generating a net $150,000 to $300,000 per year, according to budget documents.

Under state statute, Maine counties are required to have one register of deeds — except for Aroostook County, which has two — and the position is elected in most Maine counties. If the referendum passes, Somerset County would join Androscoggin, Cumberland and Knox counties in making the post an appointed one.

As technology has progressed, finding the right person to run it has become even more important, said Robert Sezak, chairman of the Somerset County Board of the Commissioners. But getting a qualified professional who is willing to go through the electoral process to keep their job has proved to be a challenge, said Sezak, of Fairfield.

“For an elected official, they actually need to gather 300 signatures countywide to be on the ballot,” Sezak said, “and that’s actually quite a chore for someone who’s trying to hold down really what is a professional position.”

That hurdle is part of why the Somerset County post has been in limbo since the summer of 2023, according to county officials.

Former register Laura Price resigned in June 2023. Price, who was appointed acting register of deeds in 2015 after her predecessor Diane Godin was placed on leave and later walked off the job amid controversy, was elected to the post in 2018 and ran again as a write-in candidate in 2022.

Price had been planning to leave the post and only ran in 2022 because nobody else submitted nomination papers to appear on the ballot, according to Curtis and Sezak.

Price’s resignation, just a few months into a four-year term that would have ended in 2026, led to the appointment of Erica Rowe, who had previously been a clerk in the office. The appointment was made via a caucus of municipal officials, a process dictated by the Somerset County charter.

Rowe was appointed in July, and meeting minutes show she was offered a contract in August following an executive session of the Board of Commissioners.

In September, she resigned, leaving the register of deeds position vacant once again.

The quick turnover was due to various factors, said Curtis, who started as administrator in July 2023 after eight years as Madison’s town manager. Rowe, who had been an employee in the registry of deeds, decided the position was not a good fit after being appointed.

“It was a situation that probably worked out the best for everybody, for her and for the county,” Curtis said.

Amid the turnover, the county commissioners last year posed a similar referendum question to voters, asking them to “abolish” the elected position and replace it with one appointed by the commissioners.

About 60% of the approximately 13,000 Somerset County voters who cast ballots in the referendum rejected it, according to results provided by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State.

The commissioners decided against holding another municipal caucus to fill the vacancy created by Rowe’s resignation, Curtis said, while county officials worked to keep the registry running until the vacancy could be filled during the November 2024 election.

That move was OK’d by the Department of the Secretary of State, according to Curtis.

The commissioners then set out to hire someone to run the registry. Tanya Belanger was hired as its office manager, while Deputy Register Arlene Demo, who has decades of experience in the office, was sworn-in as acting register, Curtis said. One full-time clerk and one part-time clerk also staff the office.

Meanwhile, the Board of Commissioners worked this summer to tweak the referendum language to make it seem less abrupt, negative and archaic, Sezak said. The language used last year was pulled directly from the county charter, and the Department of the Secretary of State reviewed and approved the changes reflected in this year’s question, emails among elections and county officials show.

“We wanted to let people know that this is a positive thing to do,” Sezak said.

The question, which will appear on the bottom right-hand corner of the ballot that contains the five state referendum questions, reads: “Shall the Somerset Register of Deeds position be changed from an elected position to a position selected through a competitive hiring process, then appointed by the Board of Commissioners?”

Also Nov. 5, voters will elect a register of deeds to a partial term of two years, through 2026. No candidates submitted nomination papers to appear on the ballot.

Belanger, the Registry of Deeds office manager, is the only declared write-in candidate, state election records show.

When hiring for Belanger’s position, county officials told prospective candidates that they would either need to run to be the register of deeds in November or accept that someone else could run and become the registry of deeds.

If the referendum is approved, the commissioners intend to later appoint Belanger to be the register of deeds, Sezak said. If the referendum fails, Belanger is set become the register of deeds anyway, since she is the only declared write-in candidate.

Belanger, of Bingham, said in an interview she did not collect signatures to appear on the ballot, as she only started working for the county in January. Belanger had experience as an office manager at Thomas College in Waterville but was still learning the job earlier this year.

“Now, I know I can do it,” Belanger said, adding that she is backed by an experienced team of her fellow registry employees.

If the referendum fails, Belanger said she intends to collect signatures to appear on the 2026 ballot, when the partial term would end.

Belanger, who said she is generally a private person, said being the register of deeds requires a certain set of skills, so she hopes the referendum passes. As an elected position, anyone — no matter their qualifications — can run, she said.

“This work is not political,” Belanger said.

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