Letter to the Citizens  |  About Me & My Qualifications

To the citizens of Powhatan County ~ 

As the incumbent candidate for Clerk of Court, I address this letter to all citizens of Powhatan County. To each and every one of you who know me and have supported me through many years, I give sincere thanks. To those many new arrivals who may not yet have had an opportunity to meet me or to visit the Clerk's Office, I would like to introduce myself and my office.

We have two primary tasks: First, to expedite all the work related to cases in the Circuit Court, which handles criminal and civil suits as well as appeals from the lower courts (and is the only court in Virginia's judicial system that hears jury cases). And second, to officially record and provide access to the many types of public documents (deeds, wills, marriages, liens, judgments, etc.) that the law requires.

As many of you know, I have just completed 50 years as Clerk of the Circuit Court. Appointed in 1957 to fill an unexpired term, I have since been reelected to six 8-year terms. Much has changed in those fifty years. In 1957 we were a two-person operation where each document had to be retyped, proofread, put into a record book and indexed by hand. Each night I manually posted the ledger sheets and swept the floor myself before going home. That first calendar year (1958) we recorded 278 real-estate-related documents. Selling hunting and fishing licenses brought in a little extra revenue. Our load gradually increased in the following years, and we added a part-time employee, a used air conditioner, and custodial services. In 1992 we made a major move into our present offices in the new courthouse addition.

Through the years the recording technology has changed--through photography with microfilm to computer scanning and automatic indexing to limited on-line access--and we now also have state-wide computer-based systems for financial transactions and case management. In 2006, we recorded 8,091 real-estate documents, and the number of new court cases has also grown considerably over the decades.

These figures, of course, reflect the tremendous growth and change in the county, and the Clerk's Office has moved with the times, through changing laws and procedures, changing needs, and changing circumstances. At present we have all the support staff allowed and funded by the state and county. These 4 deputies now have a total of 46 years of experience in this office. They are largely cross-trained, and efficiently handle reception, document recordation, court-related work, and the many other daily tasks. At the same time, we are continually updating our technology and equipment as recommended and funded by the state. Our oldest records have been microfilmed and preserved by the Library of Virginia, and we are systematically working, as resources become available, to make all of the most often used documents computer accessible. These collaborations ensure that our office meets the standards set by the General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Focusing on our own community, we constantly try to meet the needs of the many people who use our services--including title-searchers, parties to lawsuits, genealogists and information seekers, and people applying for marriage licenses and passports--and we are certainly on a par with other offices of our size. As new needs become apparent, we always try to meet them, although some of our attempts at facilitating use have been met with public apathy. For example, we accepted credit cards for a trial period, but the demand was not sufficient to justify the expense, and we now offer an on-line subscription service to access some of our records, but to date no one has signed up for it.

The clerk's primary job is to set policy and make decisions that ensure that that all of the more than 800 statutory duties of the Clerk's Office are carried out in a legal, responsible, and efficient manner. I have always tried to provide the kind of leadership that steers a course in accordance with the law and best office practice, while meeting the actual needs of those who use the services of the Clerk's Office and making the best use of the public resources provided by the state and county. This is a tried and true formula that would be difficult to improve on.

My father, a well-known general merchant and a founder of the original Bank of Powhatan, was chairman of the school board here for 25 years. When he retired, the newspaper reported that he had attended 504 board meetings, without missing a single one. I have tried to bring that same sense of responsibility and devotion to public duty to my office, and I have worked hard to maintain its respect and integrity. In 2005 a joint resolution of the General Assembly recognized me as the longest-serving Clerk of Courts in the history of the Commonwealth, and that resolution, as well as a recent award from the Supreme Court of Virginia and formal acknowledgments by the county's Board of Supervisors, and the Court which I serve, have provided further evidence that I am succeeding in meeting this goal.

The best qualifications for any job are proven experience in that job, the desire to succeed, and devotion to the task. I have these qualifications, and my desire to serve the public remains as strong as ever. I therefore stand firmly and proudly on my record and promise to continue to serve the citizens of Powhatan County to the very best of my ability if reelected to a seventh term on November 6th. I would appreciate your support and your vote.

          Sincerely -

                                                             

Letter to the Citizens  |  About Me & My Qualifications (click here)

"Authorized by Maxey for Clerk Committee".