Ramona Bracy is seeking election as Kent County Recorder of Deeds. She faces incumbent Eugenia Thornton in the General Election on November 3. Below are questions we asked Bracy and the responses are in her own words.
What experience and qualifications do you bring to the office of Recorder of Deeds, and what would be your top priorities during your first term?
I have spent over 20 years as a public servant. During that career, I’ve gained experience in project management, records administration, HR, cybersecurity, and AI. I also hold certifications in Change Management and Continuous Improvement. I’ve spent decades streamlining systems and maximizing efficiency to give people back their time and money.
If elected, my top priorities would be extending office hours at least once a week so that our neighbors who can’t afford to take time off from their 8/9-5 jobs can still come to the office and complete their transactions after work. Additionally, I want to work with the legislature to reduce the notification time from 10 to at least 4-5 days for property owners to be notified of a fraudulent transaction on their records.
Property fraud and deed fraud have become concerns as technology makes it easier to create convincing fraudulent documents. Kent County currently offers a free Property Fraud Alert service that notifies registered property owners when documents are recorded in their names. What steps would you take as Recorder of Deeds to protect Kent County property owners from fraud while remaining within the legal authority of the office?
The first thing I would do is refer back to my priority of reducing notification times. With an increase in cyber-attacks and how crafty scammers have become, this is something that should concern everyone. I am trained in cybersecurity and AI, so I have the knowledge to understand what guardrails we need in place to protect property owners in Kent County. While to my knowledge we do not have any recorded cases of property fraud in Kent County, I don’t want to wait for it to happen before taking action.
One of the first steps I would take is to work with our legislators in Dover to introduce legislation putting these guard rails in place. Although my focus is Kent County, this would greatly benefit everyone in our state, and I hope that the other county recorders would join me in protecting our neighbors from this.
Residents and real estate professionals increasingly expect government records and services to be available electronically. What technological improvements, if any, would you make to the Recorder of Deeds office, and how would you balance convenience with security and reliability?
We need to modernize our systems and keep pace with current technology. If residents and real estate professionals need to submit records electronically because they can’t come to the office for any reason, we must have mechanisms in place to accommodate that. Everyone deserves service that is accessible and accurate, regardless of how they interact with the office. To keep my promise of making this office more accessible to Kent County residents, I would work with my staff to train them on the latest technology, ensuring they are comfortable using it while establishing the necessary legal and technological security guardrails.
The Recorder of Deeds is responsible for maintaining public property records, some of which date back centuries. What should the office do to make these records easier for residents, researchers, attorneys and other users to search and access?
I would like to work with local historians, universities, and genealogists to verify that these records are accurate. The office already has a database; I would ensure constant updates to it.
Kent County charges fees for recording documents and for certain copies and downloads of property records. What is your view of the current fee structure, and how would you balance the cost of operating and modernizing the office with the principle that public records should remain readily accessible to the public?
Ultimately, the challenge is ensuring the office has the financial resources necessary not only to protect property records and implement the latest cybersecurity measures, but also to pay the dedicated staff a livable wage. We don’t want to price out our neighbors from accessing their own information which I believe is the premise of the TODD bill for the current Recorder of Deeds. I believe it’s a good start, but there are several ways I would like to improve it so the process isn’t as arduous for residents. It’s difficult to compare our fee structure to New Castle or Sussex because each county operates differently, but I’ve already begun conversations with Mr. Tackett who is running for New Castle County Recorder of Deeds to see how we can align our offices to have a similar fee structure operating simultaneously. I hope to begin the same conversations with Mrs. Reed Baker soon in Sussex.
The Recorder of Deeds maintains a large amount of valuable public information, while older documents may also contain personal identifying information that would not be included in records today. What steps should the office take to protect its electronic systems and sensitive personal information while maintaining legally required public access?
We need to continuously update cloud-based software with fraud protections and proactively remediate records to remove personal identifying information.
Buying a home, transferring property or dealing with a lien or mortgage may be one of the few times a resident interacts with the Recorder of Deeds office. What would you do to improve customer service and help residents better understand the office, property records and the services available to them?
I would train and empower my employees to confidently act on behalf of the office focusing on public speaking and customer service. I would also ensure we constantly update our website and explore creating a roadmap outlining all the paperwork and steps needed to complete transactions more quickly. This will guarantee accuracy and efficiency, ensuring residents have a positive experience and avoid making multiple trips to the office to complete their transaction.
At the end of a four-year term, what specific accomplishments or improvements would you want Kent County residents to use in determining whether you had been an effective Recorder of Deeds?
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I would hope Kent County residents use to determine my effectiveness, but I believe I would want them to focus on my ability to make transactions with the office easier for the everyday worker, as well as business partners such as realtors and attorneys. I hope to move toward more web-based transactions, increase automation, and give employees time back to remediate old documents and address the backlog. The last accomplishment I would hope to implement is a dedicated technology fund fully funded by real estate transactions and not the county’s property taxes.
The General Election will be held November 3, 2026. Thornton’s responses to the same questions were published in last week’s edition of Milford Times as we publish them as we receive them.
