← Back to Hawkins County, Tennessee: Election on 2026-08-06
Contest for Register Of Deeds
general - Partisan - Register of Deeds
About this office
The register of deeds maintains the county's permanent public record of real-property instruments — deeds, mortgages, liens, and plats — and collects the state transfer and mortgage taxes on them. The record the office keeps is the legal backbone of property ownership.
Term length: 4 years.
This role calls for
- Records management of deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, and other instruments affecting title to land.
- Working knowledge of Tennessee recording statutes, the recording-tax schedule, and the increasingly-electronic submission workflow used by title companies.
- Accuracy and indexing discipline — an error in the register's records can cloud title for years.
- Public-access service: the records are open, and the office serves both professional users and individual property owners.
- Budget and technology literacy for maintaining a searchable, modern record system.
Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.
Campaigns
Judy C. Kirkpatrick's twenty-four-year tenure as a deputy register and her continuous service since 2002 demonstrate direct experience with Tennessee recording statutes, land instrument indexing, and office management. She holds memberships in state and regional professional associations relevant to the role. The biography contains no record of disciplinary action or controversy. Bio does not indicate prior budget oversight experience or specific technology implementation experience.
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