Register of Deeds annual report

In addition to providing an annual report as register of deeds, county clerk Pattie Bender presented county commissioners a summary of her department’s operations in 2013.

Bender, who will mark her 44-year anniversary as a courthouse employee later this month, said her department’s revenue report showed collections in circuit and juvenile courts were down in 2013 compared to 2012.

She said her department is looking into a locating service in an effort to contact some of the people who owe, collectively, millions of dollars between the county, state and victim fees, Bender said.

Other figures she noted include an increase in birth certificates, from 668 in 2012 to 736 in 2013; an upturn in deaths recorded, 494 to 497; more marriage applications, 408 to 467; a sizable jump in pistol permits issued, 576 to 931; and more passport applications, 298 to 348.

She estimated there are more than 6,000 CCW license holders in the county, a figure she estimated in response to a question posed by commissioner Al Balog.

In all, the clerk’s office collected $334,371 in general-fund revenues in 2013, an increase of more than $27,000 from 2012.