This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Controversy surrounding President Trump has greatly raised the number of Google searches for ways to remove a president from office, including the method for declaring a commander in chief incapable of discharging his or her duties.

But you will search the internet in vain for such a method of removing the person whose job it is to record, file and make copies of deeds and other land records in Salt Lake County. Even when that person has clearly lost the cognitive capacity necessary to do his job.

That should change.

It was much more in sorrow than in anger that Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams has called for County Recorder Gary Ott to resign his post. For months now, it has been apparent that Ott is suffering from a serious mental decline. He is seldom seen at the county's office building on State Street and, meeting with the County Council back in October, was unable to answer some basic questions about himself, his office, even the name of his chief deputy.

The immediate solution to this problem would be for Ott to resign. Apparently, he will not, though it is unclear whether he does not wish to relinquish his office or just doesn't know what's going on.

Current law allows public officials to be removed for "high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance," but not for disability. Looking to the future, applicable laws should include a process to remove the recorder, and other elected officials, for causes that include physical or mental impairment.

But an even better solution would be to remove the county recorder — along with the county treasurer, county assessor and county surveyor — from the list of officials who are elected by the people. They should be professional hires made by the mayor, perhaps subject to council confirmation.

There is no separation-of-powers argument to continue the elective status of the recorder, assessor, treasurer and surveyor. The district attorney, the county auditor and, maybe, the sheriff should be independent enough to call out the mayor and council should they do something wrong. The county clerk is in more of a gray area, with much of that office's functions purely clerical but the duty to run elections perhaps worthy of independence.

There is no such need for the person in charge of land ownership records, however competent or incompetent that person might be, to be independent of the mayor and answerable only to the voters. Especially when the office holder in question is not really answering to anyone.