A minute with… Brian Hunhoff

Spend a minute with Brian Hunhoff, Yankton County, S.D., former commissioner and present register of deeds. During his 18 years as an elected official, Hunoff has spearheaded four projects that won the South Dakota County Achievement Award and a fifth project that won the National Association of Counties Achievement Award in 2014.

Name three projects of which you are most proud.

Top three projects as register of deeds:

1)     Implemented automated land records indexing system – one of the first in our state.
2)     Scanned over 100 years of paper records into digital images.
3)     Minutes Man Project: Our auditor’s office operated below normal staffing levels throughout 2013 due to a long-term sick leave, resignation and other staff turnover. I volunteered to serve as county commission meeting recorder for the office until it was back at full strength. I eventually completed 12 months of meeting minutes without a single error.

Top three projects as a county commissioner:

1)     Was part of a team that brought a long overdue zoning ordinance to our county in 2000.
2)     Was part of a team involved in building a new county government center office building in 2001-2002.
3)     Was part of a team involved in building a new law enforcement center, courthouse and jail in 2006-2007.

Tell us about your most challenging day at the office.

It was probably my first day as register of deeds in 2007. The three-person staff in that office had worked there together for 30 years – an incredible record of longevity and loyalty. They were very nice women, but it was a bit intimidating to be the newcomer in a group with that much institutional knowledge and experience!

Tell us about your most rewarding day at the office.

Any day when all of our customers have walked away fully satisfied with the services we provided to them.
Do you have any personal, proven methods for approaching municipal challenges?
Build consensus and be ready and open to compromise for the greater good. True solutions typically require time and patience to implement. List-making is one of my tools. I make a plan, work the plan, and strive to keep it moving forward. As the saying goes, by steps to the stars.

One way in which you would change the world?

I would eliminate hunger, disease, racism, homophobia and religious intolerance to create a world with far less conflict and suffering.

A fact about you people might be surprised to learn?

A) I have a collection of about 50 statues and sculptures.
B) My standing broad jump of nine feet is the longest in the 30-year history of the South Dakota Senior Games.

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