Lily Barnes Retires as Register of Deeds After Nearly Four Decades of Service
By: Hannah Thompson
After 39 years of dedicated public service, Lily Barnes has retired as Hardeman County Register of Deeds, bringing a close to a career marked by professionalism, leadership, and a commitment to serving the citizens of Hardeman County. Mrs. Barnes began her career in 1987 working in the County Clerk’s office. While working there, several individuals encouraged her to run for Register of Deeds. She prayed about it and decided to pursue the opportunity.
Mrs. Barnes started as Register of Deeds on September 1, 1998. Throughout her tenure, she has overseen the recording and preservation of thousands of county land records, deeds, mortgages, and other important public documents while ensuring the office provided efficient and reliable service to residents.
“I have enjoyed every single day that I have worked in the Register’s office,” said Barnes. “I honestly feel that I have been blessed beyond anything I deserve to have a job that I have loved so much.”
During her time in office, modernizing the office was one of the biggest challenges. In order to get the office ready to be computerized, construction had to be done. “I had a wall removed to open up the office and then we added the counters so that we were more accessible to the public.” Mrs. Barnes is thankful that the County Commission saw the need for improvements and were willing to fund the updates. She shared a funny anecdote related to the construction project, “I had a limited amount of money for the reconstruction, so the county purchased the paint and a trustee from the jail and myself painted the office one Saturday.”
Another challenge for Mrs. Barnes was overseeing the operation of the Register’s office during the Covid pandemic. “It was difficult to continue serving the people with all of the restrictions and mandates.” Despite the challenges, Mrs. Barnes is proud of the things she has accomplished in her career, including computerizing the office, recording the documents in a timely manner, and digitizing all of the deeds. “The office is up to date with the latest technology and the documents being imaged is a huge asset to everyone doing research.”
Mrs. Barnes’s family, friends, and church family have been huge supporters, but she is especially thankful for the voters of the county who elected her.
“I believe the most important quality is to be willing to serve and help people. You can learn the job, but you must always possess the quality of service,” said Mrs. Barnes.
On July 23, a retirement celebration honoring Mrs. Barnes’s service was held at the courthouse. In attendance were family, friends, county officials, state officials, and Registers from West and Middle Tennessee. “My retirement celebration was beyond anything that I could have imagined. It was so humbling and it was a feeling of overwhelming joy that I felt for all the kindness everyone has shown to me.”
Mrs. Barnes will miss her connection with the public, the office staff, and the courthouse employees, but she is excited to spend more time with her grandchildren and travel with her husband, Greg.
All photos are from Mrs. Barnes retirement celebration.
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