Utah Civic GuideSalt Lake County · Utah · nonpartisan
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County

Rashelle Hobbs

County Recorder · Countywide

OfficeCounty RecorderDistrictCountywidePartyDemocraticTerm endsJan 2029Next electionNov 7, 2028Raised$11,642Serving since2019

At a glance

  • County Recorder (property records) since 2019; won 2018, 2020, 2024.
  • A 2024 office mailer near the election prompted a new county ordinance on mass mailers.
  • Seat next on the ballot Nov 7, 2028.
Open compare
Analytical assessment, not factLow confidence
Overall
Fiscal
Social
Very liberalModerateVery conservative

Insufficient evidence — unrated (weak prior: Democratic label).

Evidence behind this assessment
  • 2024 'Property Watch' mailer controversy concerned election-timing of official mail, not ideology.
  • No COI outside interests.

Rating method

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Full details below are grouped by area. Facts link to public sources; "[COMPUTED]" marks derived dates.

Votes & record
Date Item Source
Oct 2024 Council members criticized a Recorder's Office "Property Watch" mailer sent weeks before the election in which she was on the ballot; she said it had been vetted by the DA, council counsel and the State Tax Commission. No finding of unlawfulness reported. Salt Lake Tribune; KSL NewsRadio
Nov 2024 Council adopted an ordinance restricting elected officials' taxpayer-funded mass mailers near elections (prompted by the above) Salt Lake Tribune; KSL TV
Campaign finance

Source: EasyVote (filer "Hobbs, Rashelle").

Report (submitted) Contributions (period) Expenditures (period) Ending balance
Pre-general 2024 (10/28/24) $11,642.25 $25,879.99 n/a (OCR)
YE 2024 (01/24/25) $8,862.75 $9,094.36 $176.40
YE 2025 (01/27/26) $412.58 $488.98 $100.00
  • 2024 cycle aggregate: not legible in OCR (see Gaps).
Disclosures
  • 2026 COI (01/27/2026): employer Salt Lake County (Recorder); no owned entities, outside income ≥$5k, stocks ≥$5k, or board seats. 2026 PDF · 2025 PDF
Election history
Year Result Source
2024 Hobbs (D) 250,018 (51.76%) vs Richard Snelgrove (R) 233,025 2024 certification
2020 Hobbs (D) 254,477 (50.86%) vs Erin Preston (R) 245,834 2020 results
2018 Hobbs (D) 202,930 (52.24%) vs Adam S. Gardiner (R) 185,562 2018 results
Lobbying & ethics
  • No lobbyist ties or official ethics findings found.
  • County Auditor — Audit of the Recorder's Office (Dec 2022): 12 findings, 34 recommendations; follow-ups Nov 2023 and Feb 5, 2025 (23 implemented, 11 closed). report · 1st follow-up · 2nd follow-up
Office & term
Item Detail Source
Office County Recorder (countywide, partisan) — official land/property records Recorder bio
Took office January 2019 (elected Nov 2018; office previously held by Gary Ott, then appointee Adam Gardiner) Salt Lake Tribune
Current term 2025–2028 (ends early Jan 2029) 2026 Budget in Brief p.3
Next election Nov 7, 2028 computed
Salary (2026) $197,058 2026 Adopted Budget p.49
Office budget (2026) Recorder $3,282,353 (24.75 FTE) + Recorder–Tax Administration $3,755,198 (24 FTE) 2026 Adopted Budget
Stated affiliation
Item Detail Source
Party / ballot label Democratic 2024 certification
Self-description Official bio focuses on records modernization/service; no ideological label Recorder bio
Party roles None found —
Contact (official)
Known gaps

Gaps

  • 2024 aggregate totals and the full contributor list — pull from EasyVote (OCR illegible).
  • Cost and distribution of the 2024 Property Watch mailer — GRAMA: Recorder's Office / Mayor's Finance (purchasing).
About this office: Salt Lake County Recorder

The full-time keeper of the county's land records: records and indexes deeds, mortgages, liens and plats, maintains ownership maps, and tells the Assessor who owns what.

Role
Countywide land-records officer
Hours
Full-time
Pay
$197,058
Typical week
Managing daily recording and indexing, tax-map updates and the deed-and-mortgage alert system; busiest when real-estate sales are

Responsibilities and powers

  • On recording a document, stamps it with an entry number, date and time and fee, and indexes it by entry number, parties, legal description, document type and water right, so the index shows a true chain of title for every parcel (Utah Code 17-71-302).
  • Since 2025, runs a system that lets owners get an electronic alert when a deed or mortgage is recorded on their property (17-71-302(1)(b)).
  • Prepares and keeps ownership plats and reports ownership changes to the Assessor (17-71-303, 17-71-304).
  • The office calls itself "the foundation of the whole real estate market and the place where the property tax system in the county begins" and publishes an interactive tax map (SLCo Recorder).
  • Four-year partisan term (current term 2025–2028).

A typical week [INFERRED from statutory duties]

  • Overseeing recording and indexing teams and the mapping (tax administration) staff, fraud-prevention outreach, and working with title companies, the Assessor and the Surveyor.

Time commitment

  • Full-time [INFERRED].

Staff and budget

  • 48.75 FTEs (Recorder 24.75 + Recorder-Tax Administration 24) (SLCo FTE table); 2026 budget $7.0 million (Budget in Brief p.14).

Pay

  • $197,058 a year, about $69.5k in benefits (2025) (SLCo pay schedule p.48).

Sources

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Sources