Lee County Recorder

Description

The Office of the County Recorder was created by the First Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa in 1839. The basic duty of the county Recorder then and now is to maintain official records of documents affecting title to real estate in order to preserve property rights in real estate transactions. Every real estate transaction that takes place in the county starts in the Recorder’s office. The County Recorder is responsible for land and records management, maintaining and recording a wide variety of official documents affecting real estate and numerous other valuable miscellaneous documents. The office collects real estate transfer tax for the Iowa Department of Revenue and collects and reports the County Auditor's fee on transfer of property. The Recorder’s office serves as licensing agent for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for registering and titling boats, snowmobiles and ATVs. They no longer issue hunting and fishing permits. As of July, 1997 the Recorder's office is the County Registrar of Vital Records and has the responsibility of issuing Marriage Licenses, registering Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates and issuing certified copies of Vital Records. The Recorder's duties are defined by state statutes and established by state agencies through administrative actions. The County Recorder works with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Revenue, and the Iowa Department of Public Health. Detailed reports are filed monthly and annually to the county and to the state agencies.

Application Guidelines

1) Contact the Lee County Auditor's office to confirm that your address is eligible to run for the seat you are considering, and ask them when and where you can pick up the filing papers. Ask the Lee County Auditor's office about the filing window regarding the office you are interested in, and see this link from the Iowa Secretary of State elections office regarding the election calendar for years 2015, 2016, and 2017. http://www.leecounty.org/election_docs/Three%20year%20election%20calendar.pdf 2) Obtain the filing paperwork from the place directed to by the Lee County Auditor's office. Very often the paperwork is picked up from the Lee County Auditor's office and this is a good time to ask any further questions with them. 3) Obtain the necessary signatures to appear on the ballot, and make sure that you file within the appropriate filing window! Iowa is one of the few states which does not incur filing fees for offices, so your only duty is to collect signatures for your candidacy. Candidates should not wait until the last minute to gather signatures and should always collect more than the minimum amount of required signatures (in case there is an issue with some of the petition signers). Election filing window deadlines are unforgiving and if a candidate does not file within the prescribed window, they will not be able to appear on the ballot. For further information regarding elections you can contact the Lee County Auditor at (319) 372-3705 or the Iowa Secretary of State elections office at (515) 281-5204.

Submit application to:
Lee County Auditor-Elections Dept, 933 Ave H, Fort Madison, IA, 52627-0190, US