Retiring Carson City clerk recommends change to office

Before saying goodbye at the Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday, outgoing Clerk-Recorder Aubrey Rowlatt recommended the public administrator’s office be separated from the clerk-recorder’s office.

“When we get to election time, that office (public administrator) comes to a standstill,” she said.

The recommendation was part of an update Rowlatt gave the board as she prepares to retire. She listed the tasks of the public administrator that currently fall to the clerk-recorder’s office: estate administration, cremation authorization, assisting family members with legal counsel and locating and notifying next of kin, among other tasks.

Maintaining elections is a full-time job, Rowlatt said. The clerk-recorder’s office also oversees public meeting records and marriage records.

Appearing with Rowlatt on Thursday was incoming Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen, elected in the November general election.

“It is a big plate and big shoes to fill,” he said.

Besides recommending a separate office for public administrator, Rowlatt recommended any future remodel of the Carson City Courthouse include more space for elections – an area for poll observers – and a public research area for the recorder’s department.

Rowlatt also mentioned ongoing projects, such as importing digitized images from 1862 to 1969 into new software and procuring fireproof shelving for old print records. Completed projects, she pointed out, include a public portal for submitting records requests.

“That’s been a great asset for the city,” she said.

That portal can be found online: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-a-f/clerk-recorder/public-meetings-and-public-records-division.

Hoen called working with Rowlatt and his transition to the office “absolutely phenomenal.”

Rowlatt said the office’s greatest accomplishment is the staff dedicated to serving the city.

“It truly was an honor to serve as your clerk-recorder,” she said.

Supervisor Lisa Schuette told Rowlatt, “You will be missed.”