Catherine Berube 

Catherine Berube is running for reelection as the Register of Deeds for Strafford County. She currently holds this position and has held it for three two-year terms. It is a constitutional position, as opposed to a legislative position. 

The register of deeds is the official keeper of property records for the county, whose duties include recording and preserving property records as well as collecting fees on behalf of the county. According to Berube, over $12 million were collected for the state of New Hampshire through the Strafford County Registry of Deeds last year.  

Prior to her time as register of deeds, Berube was a practicing attorney. She and her husband, F.X. Bruton, have a law firm in Dover that focuses on real estate law. She stepped back from practicing law to “concentrate all of my efforts” on the registry of deeds.  

Berube said that her legal background has “helped me understand the issues that arise” in the Registry of Deeds. Additionally, she said that she has been “active in legislative issues” on behalf of the New Hampshire Registry of Deeds Association and has testified at hearings in matters dealing with real estate.  

In addition to performing her duties as register of deeds, Berube teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire.  

While serving as register of deeds, Berube is proud of her accomplishments of leading the office through a transition to an updated search engine for their software, as well as educating the public on the systems of the registry of deeds.  

Berube is running unopposed. She will be on both sides of the ballot as the candidate for the Democratic and Republican parties on Nov. 3, as during the primary election, Strafford County voters provided enough votes for this on both tickets. Berube said that she is “honored” by this.