A concurrent RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE judith warner UPON THE OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT, TO COMMEND HER FOR HER thirty YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE to aiken county and the state of south carolina, AND TO WISH HER MUCH HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT IN THE YEARS AHEAD.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to recognize Judith Warner upon the occasion of her retirement from her role as the Aiken County Registrar of Mesne Conveyance (RMC) on December 31, 2023; and

Whereas, Mrs. Warner married the late Aiken County Council Chairman, Carroll Warner. She owned The Vegetable Bin and Farm and helped organize the Aiken County Republican Party in the 1970s; and

Whereas, Governor Carroll Campbell appointed Mrs. Warner to the South Carolina Vocational and Technical Education Commission, and she served on the Lower Savannah Council of Governments Board of Directors; and

Whereas, Mrs. Warner represented District 1 on the Aiken County Council from 1994 to 1996 making a difference in rural Aiken County; and

Whereas, Mrs. Warner was elected as Aiken County RMC in November of 1996. Since she took office in January 1997, Mrs. Warner expanded the throughput of the RMC office by recording approximately forty thousand documents per year and collected an office revenue exceeding four and a half million dollars without increasing her staff; and

Whereas, Mrs. Warner continually modernized the RMC and made the office more efficient through important initiatives such as the scanning of microfilmed land records and the creation of a digital index of older records; making land records available online; rebinding the oldest index books; and beginning the ongoing process of digitizing and making available to the public the oldest original records in storage and the oldest microfilmed plat records; and

Whereas, a leader in her profession, Mrs. Warner has served with many professional organizations, including the South Carolina Association of Clerks of Court and Register of Deeds, the Property Records Industry Association, and the South Carolina Public Records Association; and

Whereas, Mrs. Warner took great pride in leading one of the premier RMC offices in South Carolina and served the citizens of Aiken County as the RMC for twenty-seven years with dedication, integrity, and proven leadership. Because the legislature changed the county RMCs to the Register of Deeds in 1997 but grandfathered those currently in office, Mrs. Warner has served as the last RMC in South Carolina; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate appreciate the passion and dedication that Mrs. Warner has shown in serving the people and the State of South Carolina.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, congratulate Judith Warner upon the occasion of her retirement, commend her for her thirty years of dedicated service to Aiken County and the State of South Carolina, and wish her much happiness and fulfillment in the years ahead.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Judith Warner.

----XX---