Commission Begins Task Of Appointing Clerk

December 16, 2004

HUNTSVILLE - A successor to Circuit Court Clerk Jan Burress, who died earlier this month, could be chosen as early as Dec. 27, as the result of action taken by members of county commission's Intergovernmental Committee Monday night.

Meeting in their regular monthly work session at the County Office Building, committee members voted to advertise the vacancy, begin taking applications for the position, and vote on nominations during the upcoming Dec. 27 meeting.

County Mayor Dwight Murphy explained that Sharon Marcum was named Deputy Circuit Court Clerk by her sister (Burress) when she became too ill to perform her duties. Marcum, he added, is "on loan" from the District Attorney General's office, does not wish to fill the vacancy permanently, but has agreed to serve in the office through the month of January to help train a replacement.

Once appointed, the new Circuit Court Clerk would serve out the remainder of Burress's term, which ends in August 2006.

Murphy told the committee members that he thought itw as critical that if a replacement cannot be selected at the Dec. 27 meeting, that the commission be called back into special session "as quickly as possible" to fill the vacancy.

Of Marcum, Murphy stated that "She's doing it (the job) in respect to her sister, the court system and this county," adding that he felt the commissioners ought to respect her wishes to return to her position at the Attorney General's office.

The committee's first order of business was to approve the "offer of candidacy" notice for publication in this week's edition of the Independent Herald.

That was followed by a discussion as to the procedure which would be used for accepting applications for the position, as well as the procedure the commission would use to vote on the nominations.

"We'll begin taking applications tomorrow," Murphy said, adding that in addition to the information required by the state, he would be asking each applicant to also submit a resume.

As applications are coming in and before the deadline, Murphy told the commissioners he would check with the County Technical Advisory Service to make sure the county is following the correct procedure.

The procedure for voting will apparently be to present a list of the applicants (including any nominations from the audience) on the night of the meeting, followed by a roll call vote of the commissioners. The commissioners will vote by stating the name of their preference for the position, and the first candidate to get eight votes will be the new Circuit Court Clerk.

In a related development, the committee voted to approve Murphy's request that Marcum be paid the official salary of the Circuit Court Clerk for the months of November, December and January. "We do have the funds," Murphy told the committee. "The office has had two vacancies for several months."

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