POUGHKEEPSIE – After 20 years, Dutchess County Clerk Bradford Kendall has announced his retirement from public service. Monday’s announcement was made 21 months before his term is up. Kendall is in his fifth term as Dutchess County Clerk, and he will not seek a sixth term.
“After much thought and reflection and discussion with my family and with Barbara, my sweetheart of 48 years, I’ve decided to retire next year at the end of my fifth term as County Clerk,” Kendall stated in a mid-morning email. “For the past 20 years, it has been a privilege to lead my dedicated co-workers in the delivery of exemplary public service.”
“As for the next 21 months,” the Williams College graduate said, “I look forward to the implementation of electronic filing in the criminal court of Dutchess County, finalizing the Clean Slate Act, and completion of the renovations of the first and second floors of the County Office Building.”
Kendall was first appointed to public service as a member of the Town of Dover Planning Board in 1988. In 1993, he was elected to the Dutchess County Legislature, first representing the residents of Dover and then Dover and Union Vale. In 2000, he was elected chair of the County Legislature, a position he held for the next seven years.
On December 29, 2006, Kendall was appointed by then Governor George Pataki to fill the unexpired term of retiring County Clerk Colette Lafuente. He was subsequently elected County Clerk in 2007 and reelected in 2011, 2015, 2029, and 2023.
He has previously served as president of the New York State Association of County Clerks and received the Association’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2019.
*For disclosure, Reporter Todd Bender served on the Dutchess County Legislature when Kendall was the Chairman of the body.
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