GRAFTON COUNTY REGISTRY OF DEEDS
Kelley Jean Monahan Register
Annual Report Fiscal Year 2023
Kelley Jean Monahan Register
Annual Report Fiscal Year 2023
To the Citizens of Grafton County, the Board of Commissioners and Delegation Members:
I have now served Grafton County as a Constitutional Officer of the State of New Hampshire for almost 13 years. I have sworn to uphold the laws of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire under the pains and penalties of perjury.
I have now served Grafton County as a Constitutional Officer of the State of New Hampshire for almost 13 years. I have sworn to uphold the laws of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire under the pains and penalties of perjury.
TITLE XLVIII
CONVEYANCES AND MORTGAGES OF REALTY
CHAPTER 478
REGISTERS OF DEEDS
Section 478:1
CONVEYANCES AND MORTGAGES OF REALTY
CHAPTER 478
REGISTERS OF DEEDS
Section 478:1
478:1 Duties. – The register of deeds shall carefully keep in the office provided by the county at all times, except when he may be required by a court to produce them as evidence or when the same may be removed for the purposes of repair, all books, records, files and papers belonging thereto, and when not in use shall keep them in a safe location where their protection from fire, theft, water and the elements is insured, and he shall permit no paper there deposited for record to be taken from his office before it is recorded. Whenever any of the volumes of records in his office shall be in need of repair, he shall seasonably cause them to be suitably repaired at the expense of the county, and, if necessary, he may allow such volumes to be taken out of his office for a reasonable time for that purpose. Source. RS 22:4. CS 23:4. GS 26:3. GL 23:15; 27:3. PS 29:1. 1911, 80:1. PL 40:1. RL 49:1. RSA 478:1. 1975, 149:2, eff. May 26, 1975.
As the fiscal year began, our first ARPA project; the back scanning of historic records was complete with the second; the microfilm project in process, the third was in a holding pattern waiting until fall for the Executive Committee to conduct their next session. The vendor that I had worked with for four years contacted me in July with the unfortunate news that she could not complete our largest proposed project, the restoration of our historic plans in the allotted time frame for ARPA guidelines. I had spoken to the Executive Committee about a place holder for a $500,000 project. As the project grew in scope to closer to $1,000,000.00, I paused as I was in full support of the bigger picture for the bulk of ARPA funding, the infrastructure projects for the complex and expanded broadband throughout the rural, underserved areas of the county. Our office was the only registry in New Hampshire where the staff was unable to work remotely during COVID due to lack of secure internet at the rural homes of my team and myself. I reached out to my second-choice vendor who made it a priority to commit to the travel and time to analyze the project on very short notice. The advance work of the original vendor made the process fast and efficient, however it was too short a turnaround for approval for the September meeting.
My team and I discussed this project at length. This was a rare opportunity to repair our older historic plans which were stored in what seemed to be the best manner for the time period, but in modern times, was detrimental. By using ARPA funding, which was rapidly being depleted, this project would not affect the local taxpayer. I requested to be heard by the Board of Commissioners and Executive Committee on the reassessment of this project and received two back-to-back unanimous votes of support. In my presentation to the Board of Commissioners and Executive Committee, I had produced a document which I found in our administrative records coauthored by our State Archivist Brian Burford and surveyor Bean and dated June 18, 1992 entitled Time bomb, NH Style. It was a detailed glossary of terms and warnings predicting exactly the situation that I was experiencing with our older plans, and other registers had identified as well and were in various stages of restoration all based the ability to fund this restoration with local tax dollars. Now ARPA funds were being utilized by county and municipal governments for these very expensive efforts. The 10 NH County Registries of Deeds are expected to perform at the same level of expectation with very different levels and availability of funding.
With this approval, over 100 of our oldest plan books would now be separated, restored, flattened, repackaged and re-digitized in order to produce a crisper image for viewing via the internet and to provide the best possible conditions for long term storage at the projected cost of $950,000.00. We moved ahead with the clock ticking with Kofile; a long-trusted vendor and industry leader in charge of this important project. Grafton County is the second largest county in New Hampshire as measured by land mass. As this county has become a very desirable place to live and work, I anticipate that in the coming years that many large landowners may consider subdivision and development and for a good deal of this work, the older plans will have to be referenced.
In November just before our Annual Meeting, I resigned as President of New Hampshire Register of Deeds Association. Due to short staffing here, and now moving ahead with our third major project to enhance the database, I chose to dedicate my time over my 7th term to these projects and initiate a fourth. The storage conditions here in the Administration Building have always been less than ideal. Our very valuable collection is stored in a somewhat refurbished old nursing home laundry room. To say that there have been issues is an understatement. I had attempted a few times to draw attention to these deficiencies only to have my concerns dismissed. I had proposed a non-aqueous fire suppression system twice only to be denied by the Executive Committee and told that it was a capital improvement project and outside of my scope of authority. Our oldest paper books, having been sent out by a former register for micro-filming, had been cut loose from the leather bindings and returned as loose paper; an egregious error which I inherited. Restoring these loose pages to a bound leather book form would cost well over seven million dollars and double the storage space required.
We had now had two professional analyses of the condition of these “books” and felt confident to proceed in a repackaging project which would finally offer complete protection from the overhead sprinklers and provide some protection from the fluctuations in temperature and humidity. These records had all been digitized many years ago. The registries of deeds are one of the few governmental agencies which are required to retain documents forever. I had dedicated my early service to improving technology, managing the customer service needs of our very diverse population and preparing for the future; it was time to tidy up the past.
In early December I spoke to the New Hampshire Land Surveyors Association at their Annual Meeting; continuing a 2-year dialog. My presentation was entitled,
The New Hampshire Registry of Deeds - Preserving the Past, Processing the Present and Preparing for the Future. This talk and PowerPoint Presentation was delivered to a standing room only crowd and was very well received. I was very pleased to see our retiring State Archivist, Brian Burford present in the crowd. The dialog with the surveyors shed light on misunderstanding, clarified policy and I sought unity on any future legislative proposals which would have effect on all of NH Planning.
The two copies of micro-film began arriving in the spring and once it was all inventoried and repackaged, I was able to deliver one new copy to a very secure offsite storage facility located within New Hampshire and the other copy will remain here and be available for use should we experience difficulties accessing the digital data base via internet on any given day. I also retrieved the older, failing micro-film which is scheduled for demolition in the fall with a trusted local vendor.
We continue to provide in person assistance to our public who does not have access to the internet or the computer skills to research independently. My team and I help guide people through complicated processes. In challenging economic times, the need for assistance increases as many people do not have the ability to hire legal representation and are forced to become their own advocates. This vital public service is often overlooked as the value of this department seems to be based solely on revenue generation. This office represents a cornerstone of the economy, proof of ownership and interest in real property.
As the fiscal year began, our first ARPA project; the back scanning of historic records was complete with the second; the microfilm project in process, the third was in a holding pattern waiting until fall for the Executive Committee to conduct their next session. The vendor that I had worked with for four years contacted me in July with the unfortunate news that she could not complete our largest proposed project, the restoration of our historic plans in the allotted time frame for ARPA guidelines. I had spoken to the Executive Committee about a place holder for a $500,000 project. As the project grew in scope to closer to $1,000,000.00, I paused as I was in full support of the bigger picture for the bulk of ARPA funding, the infrastructure projects for the complex and expanded broadband throughout the rural, underserved areas of the county. Our office was the only registry in New Hampshire where the staff was unable to work remotely during COVID due to lack of secure internet at the rural homes of my team and myself. I reached out to my second-choice vendor who made it a priority to commit to the travel and time to analyze the project on very short notice. The advance work of the original vendor made the process fast and efficient, however it was too short a turnaround for approval for the September meeting.
My team and I discussed this project at length. This was a rare opportunity to repair our older historic plans which were stored in what seemed to be the best manner for the time period, but in modern times, was detrimental. By using ARPA funding, which was rapidly being depleted, this project would not affect the local taxpayer. I requested to be heard by the Board of Commissioners and Executive Committee on the reassessment of this project and received two back-to-back unanimous votes of support. In my presentation to the Board of Commissioners and Executive Committee, I had produced a document which I found in our administrative records coauthored by our State Archivist Brian Burford and surveyor Bean and dated June 18, 1992 entitled Time bomb, NH Style. It was a detailed glossary of terms and warnings predicting exactly the situation that I was experiencing with our older plans, and other registers had identified as well and were in various stages of restoration all based the ability to fund this restoration with local tax dollars. Now ARPA funds were being utilized by county and municipal governments for these very expensive efforts. The 10 NH County Registries of Deeds are expected to perform at the same level of expectation with very different levels and availability of funding.
With this approval, over 100 of our oldest plan books would now be separated, restored, flattened, repackaged and re-digitized in order to produce a crisper image for viewing via the internet and to provide the best possible conditions for long term storage at the projected cost of $950,000.00. We moved ahead with the clock ticking with Kofile; a long-trusted vendor and industry leader in charge of this important project. Grafton County is the second largest county in New Hampshire as measured by land mass. As this county has become a very desirable place to live and work, I anticipate that in the coming years that many large landowners may consider subdivision and development and for a good deal of this work, the older plans will have to be referenced.
In November just before our Annual Meeting, I resigned as President of New Hampshire Register of Deeds Association. Due to short staffing here, and now moving ahead with our third major project to enhance the database, I chose to dedicate my time over my 7th term to these projects and initiate a fourth. The storage conditions here in the Administration Building have always been less than ideal. Our very valuable collection is stored in a somewhat refurbished old nursing home laundry room. To say that there have been issues is an understatement. I had attempted a few times to draw attention to these deficiencies only to have my concerns dismissed. I had proposed a non-aqueous fire suppression system twice only to be denied by the Executive Committee and told that it was a capital improvement project and outside of my scope of authority. Our oldest paper books, having been sent out by a former register for micro-filming, had been cut loose from the leather bindings and returned as loose paper; an egregious error which I inherited. Restoring these loose pages to a bound leather book form would cost well over seven million dollars and double the storage space required.
We had now had two professional analyses of the condition of these “books” and felt confident to proceed in a repackaging project which would finally offer complete protection from the overhead sprinklers and provide some protection from the fluctuations in temperature and humidity. These records had all been digitized many years ago. The registries of deeds are one of the few governmental agencies which are required to retain documents forever. I had dedicated my early service to improving technology, managing the customer service needs of our very diverse population and preparing for the future; it was time to tidy up the past.
In early December I spoke to the New Hampshire Land Surveyors Association at their Annual Meeting; continuing a 2-year dialog. My presentation was entitled,
The New Hampshire Registry of Deeds - Preserving the Past, Processing the Present and Preparing for the Future. This talk and PowerPoint Presentation was delivered to a standing room only crowd and was very well received. I was very pleased to see our retiring State Archivist, Brian Burford present in the crowd. The dialog with the surveyors shed light on misunderstanding, clarified policy and I sought unity on any future legislative proposals which would have effect on all of NH Planning.
The two copies of micro-film began arriving in the spring and once it was all inventoried and repackaged, I was able to deliver one new copy to a very secure offsite storage facility located within New Hampshire and the other copy will remain here and be available for use should we experience difficulties accessing the digital data base via internet on any given day. I also retrieved the older, failing micro-film which is scheduled for demolition in the fall with a trusted local vendor.
We continue to provide in person assistance to our public who does not have access to the internet or the computer skills to research independently. My team and I help guide people through complicated processes. In challenging economic times, the need for assistance increases as many people do not have the ability to hire legal representation and are forced to become their own advocates. This vital public service is often overlooked as the value of this department seems to be based solely on revenue generation. This office represents a cornerstone of the economy, proof of ownership and interest in real property.
FY23 Revenue
RETT Recording Fees Online Services LCHIP Copies Tapestry
$582,499.28 $353,646.40 $21,467.67 $11,096.00 $65,037.000 $30,323.93
In this fiscal year our office received, processed and redistributed $15,667,513.95 to NH DRA, LCHIP and Grafton County.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelley Jean Monahan
Register of Deeds
RETT Recording Fees Online Services LCHIP Copies Tapestry
$582,499.28 $353,646.40 $21,467.67 $11,096.00 $65,037.000 $30,323.93
In this fiscal year our office received, processed and redistributed $15,667,513.95 to NH DRA, LCHIP and Grafton County.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelley Jean Monahan
Register of Deeds
