Change Address

VOTE411 Voter Guide

Barton County Register of Deeds

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

  • Candidate picture

    Susan Williams
    (Rep)

Biographical Information

What makes you the best candidate for this position? What skills, expertise, or competencies qualify you?

What do you think will be the most significant challenges for this office, and how do you intend to address those challenges?

How will you make the records maintained by the Register of Deeds office as open, accessible, and useful to the public as possible?

Ballot City Great Bend
Personal Biography I have lived in Barton County for over 50 years. My husband and I raised out daughter here and have been owners of a business for over 20 years. I have a true passion for this profession and a love for this community.
I have eight years of experience working in the Register of Deeds office, having served as a Certified Deputy Register of Deeds for seven of those years. I have a true passion for the nature of the work and understand the importance of the essential functions required by a Register of Deeds. Additionally, I have demonstrated leadership abilities as well as the skills required to serve as Barton County Register of Deeds. I want to work for the PEOPLE of Barton County as a steward and public servant.

This office hasn’t been challenged in over 30 years. I want to bring a new leadership style, dynamic and narrative to the office.
The most significant challenges for this office will be moving forward progressively as technological advances become available while preserving the integrity of the historical documents. Additionally, as new energy sources become available (solar and wind farms) could pose a challenge with how the documents are recorded and we will need to refer to and address according to the Statutes set forth by the Kansas Legislature.
The records maintained by the Register of Deeds office are open and accessible to the public under the guidelines of KORA (Kansas Open Records Act). I believe a big factor to how they are accessed and useful to the public varies from person to person. For instance, having lived in Barton County for over 50 years, I know my audience (the constituients). I know at least in my life time, I'm always going to have a certain demographic that will not adapt to computerized documents or research as they want a physical book to use for research. On the other hand, I will always have a certain demographic that will only want to use computerized options. It is finding balance and knowing how to best serve your constituents on a one on one basis.