Politics

Kilpatrick says experience preps her for deeds office

By Bill Moss, Published: February 27, 2014

Evona Johnson Kilpatrick says her 30 years worth of experience researching titles at the Henderson County Register of Deeds office has prepared her to run the office.

Kilpatrick
"I am in there every day seeing what needs to be done to make it easy for everyone to use this office," she said.
Kilpatrick, a Republican, announced this week that she is running for the Register of Deeds post, an open seat for the first time in 16 years. Five-term incumbent Nedra Moles announced two weeks ago that she would retire in December.
A paralegal for Hendersonville attorney Michael Thompson with the Van Winkle law firm, Kilpatrick said her work in the courthouse has made her familiar with the needs "from book repair to scanning documents so they can be viewed on line."
Lee King, who works for the Henderson County tax assessor's office, is also running for the seat. Both Kilpatrick and King say they would accelerate the process of getting birth and death certificates, property transfer records and other public documents on line, a task that has been delayed in Henderson County because Moles insisted on redacting Social Security numbers before scanning the documents.
"That was just something she felt like she needed to do," Kilpatrick said. "I can understand why she thought that."
But Kilpatrick, 54, pointed out that anyone who researches the documents in the office will find thousands of Social Security numbers.
"My heart's been in this office for a long time," she said. "I have 30 years experience working there (as a paralegal). It didn't scare me away last time (in 2010) when I lost. Now I feel like the public is ready for me. ... I believe that I do have more experience than Mr. King. I am in there daily."
A graduate of East Henderson High School, Kilpatrick is certified as a paralegal. She attended Asheville-Buncombe Technical College. She and her husband, Van, have two sons.