IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION congratulating Bob Kelly upon the occasion of his retirement from Jackson County.
Intro
RESOLUTION NO. 20530, October 19, 2020
INTRODUCED BY Theresa Cass Galvin, Dan Tarwater, III, Jalen Anderson, Crystal Williams, Tony Miller, Scott Burnett, Ron Finley, Charlie Franklin, and Jeanie Lauer, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, Robert T. (Bob) Kelly, Director of the Recorder of Deeds Department for Jackson County, is retiring after twenty-one years of service to the County; and,
WHEREAS, Bob served Jackson County in multiple management positions during his career; and,
WHEREAS, from 1999 until 2002 he served as Manager of Operations overseeing the Corrections, Park + Rec, and Public Works Departments; and,
WHEREAS, in 2003 Bob was appointed the Director of the Recorder of Deeds Department and the Jackson County Records Center; and,
WHEREAS, over the past seventeen years his department has led all other Missouri Recorder of Deeds offices in electronic recording of land-related instruments, issuance of marriage licenses, creation of a variety of searchable database index options, and providing both the general public and business community free-of-charge web-based search capabilities for land/marriage document access; and,
WHEREAS, over his career, Bob has served as a board member for the National Association of Counties, Missouri Association of Counties, the International Association of Government Officials, Property Records Industry Association, and the Recorders Association of Missouri (RAM), serving for the past two years as the Recorders Association of Missouri’s Chairman of the Emerging Issues Committee and member of the By-Laws, Conference, and Legislative Committees; and,
WHEREAS, Bob’s desire for continuous improvement, with the support of his fellow departmental associates, helped in the elimination of the three-day waiting period for marriage applicants, the creation of a single state-wide portal for the submission and recording of documents, and the creation of the metro area’s first Civil Union Registry; and,
WHEREAS, these combined efforts have resulted in Jackson County becoming one of the first U.S. counties to implement E-recording, and enabled the creation of a web-based application allowing the public and business community the ability to search over sixty years of land-related documents and all marriage licenses and plats dating back to the beginning of Jackson County government in 1826; and,
WHEREAS, Bob’s fellow department directors and elected recorders across Missouri appreciate his professionalism, high ethical standards, integrity, humor, and wit in addressing local and state-wide challenges; and,
WHEREAS, Bob’s experience and institutional knowledge have been important assets in serving Jackson County residents, law firms, mortgage banks, lenders, and title companies; and,
WHEREAS, Bob’s wife Cynthia Smith-Kelly, two-time Emmy winning news anchor on Kansas City’s FOX 4 News, their daughter Elizabeth, a Pediatrics MD Specialist and Training Director at Children’s Mercy Hospital, their daughter Kathryn who is an attorney and partner in a local law firm, their son Walker, who serves as Director of Admissions for Sewanee University School of Theology (TN), and their families join in Jackson County’s celebration of this happy occasion; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, that the Legislature hereby congratulates Bob Kelly on his retirement and extends best wishes on all his future endeavors.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________________ ________________________________
Chief Deputy County Counselor County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution No. 20530 of October 19, 2020, was duly passed on October 19, 2020 by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas _______8__________ Nays ______0________
Abstaining ______0_______ Absent _____1_______
_________________ ________________________________
Date Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature