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Timothy Morland

A 17-year veteran of the Douglas County Treasurer’s Office is the second employee of the office to join the race to become its next leader.

Timothy Morland, a registration and tax clerk, on Monday filed to run for the Douglas County treasurer position as a Democrat, according to the county clerk’s office. The county treasurer’s office oversees resident motor vehicle registration and property taxes.

Morland, who has worked for the office since 2003, said in a news release that he may be most recognizable to the public as the clerk for the office’s satellite location at Dillons, 3000 W. Sixth St. He said he considers his current role to be the “public face of county government” and he has always enjoyed serving the public.

“I look forward to the opportunity to continue the tradition of reliable and courteous service that the county provides while recognizing the challenges of delivering a consistent experience in these uncertain times,” Morland said in the news release, referring to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

If elected, Morland said he would like to use technology to implement new strategies and solutions to keep the office working efficiently. He said the treasurer’s office has begun to do that while it has been closed to the public because of the pandemic. As the Journal-World has previously reported, the office has been serving residents online, on the phone and through the mail while the office has been closed.

“We are communicating with customers in new and different ways,” Morland said in the news release. “We need to continue tailoring our services to offer new ways to work together to get things done.”

Morland has lived in Douglas County since 2000, when he began attending the University of Kansas. He and his wife, Kristin, decided to stay in Lawrence and now have two children. He is the second Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the position. The other is Adam Rains, deputy county treasurer, who filed to run for the position in March.

Morland and Rains are vying for the seat that will soon be vacated by the current county treasurer, Paula Gilchrist, who has held the position since she was first elected in 2004. She previously told the Journal-World that she planned to retire later this year.

The candidate filing and withdrawal deadline for the 2020 election is June 1, according to information on the county clerk’s website, douglascountyelections.com. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 4.