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Clerk courts Democrats
Says job challenging, but an enjoyable one
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
When Marty Paramore campaigned for the clerk of superior court, the office he has held since 2006, he said most people he met asked what a clerk was.
Speaking at the September meeting of the Beaufort County Democratic Women on Wednesday, he made it very clear.
“As long as there has been written word, there has been the need for a clerk,” Paramore said. “The clerk is the keeper of records.”
With four assistant clerks and 15 deputy clerks, Paramore said the first thing he did when he took office was to “clean out and organize” Beaufort County’s records.
“The clerk’s office has a basement,” he said. “It’s where a lot of the old records are kept. Some we keep for a certain amount of time. Some we keep forever, like capital murder files. We hired a shredding company and eventually destroyed about 17,000 pounds of paper.”
The clerk’s office, located on the first floor of the Beaufort County Courthouse, is much more than a depository for court records, Paramore said. It handles cases from adoptions and land partitions to child support and collecting fines, he said.
“We also basically operate a bank,” he said. “People come in to pay off traffic violations and other fines, even child support. There we had to address some security issues. A clerk used to make deposits to the bank on their own, in their own car. Now, the sheriff (Alan Jordan) has been helpful in that a deputy now escorts the clerk to the bank to make deposits.”
As clerk, Paramore also oversees hearings involving disputes over wills. When making a last will and testament, Paramore said to be very thorough and to make sure someone knows where it is.
“When you make your will, make your will known,” he said. “If you want someone to have something after you’re gone, write it down. ... A lot of people that have wills don’t tell anyone where it is. People pass away all the time and nobody knows where it is.”
One of the actions Paramore said he’s proudest of was his nomination of Eltha Booth, also a member of the Beaufort County Board of Education Board, to sit on the county’s jury commission. The commission is responsible for culling the names on the master jury-pool list.
“The way juries used to be selected was using the property-tax list, but we didn’t have representation of the community,” Paramore said. “In 1983 it was changed to using the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) list. If you’re licensed to drive, you can be on jury duty. We also use the voting registration list. Those two lists are fed into a computer, which randomly selects names.
“I nominated Eltha Booth for the jury commission and I don’t know if we’ve ever had minority representation on the jury commission. I’m very proud of making that nomination.”
Paramore said the clerk’s job is very challenging, but gave his staff credit for the success he has had in office so far.
“I’d compare our clerk’s office to any one in the state,” he said. “The folks that work in the clerk’s office are public servants,” he said. “One of the things I’m most proud of is that we still answer the phone. When you call our office, you will talk to an actual person. I know a lot of smaller clerk’s offices that have gone automated. Our staff is personable and will help you or direct you to someone who can.”
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
When Marty Paramore campaigned for the clerk of superior court, the office he has held since 2006, he said most people he met asked what a clerk was.
Speaking at the September meeting of the Beaufort County Democratic Women on Wednesday, he made it very clear.
“As long as there has been written word, there has been the need for a clerk,” Paramore said. “The clerk is the keeper of records.”
With four assistant clerks and 15 deputy clerks, Paramore said the first thing he did when he took office was to “clean out and organize” Beaufort County’s records.
“The clerk’s office has a basement,” he said. “It’s where a lot of the old records are kept. Some we keep for a certain amount of time. Some we keep forever, like capital murder files. We hired a shredding company and eventually destroyed about 17,000 pounds of paper.”
The clerk’s office, located on the first floor of the Beaufort County Courthouse, is much more than a depository for court records, Paramore said. It handles cases from adoptions and land partitions to child support and collecting fines, he said.
“We also basically operate a bank,” he said. “People come in to pay off traffic violations and other fines, even child support. There we had to address some security issues. A clerk used to make deposits to the bank on their own, in their own car. Now, the sheriff (Alan Jordan) has been helpful in that a deputy now escorts the clerk to the bank to make deposits.”
As clerk, Paramore also oversees hearings involving disputes over wills. When making a last will and testament, Paramore said to be very thorough and to make sure someone knows where it is.
“When you make your will, make your will known,” he said. “If you want someone to have something after you’re gone, write it down. ... A lot of people that have wills don’t tell anyone where it is. People pass away all the time and nobody knows where it is.”
One of the actions Paramore said he’s proudest of was his nomination of Eltha Booth, also a member of the Beaufort County Board of Education Board, to sit on the county’s jury commission. The commission is responsible for culling the names on the master jury-pool list.
“The way juries used to be selected was using the property-tax list, but we didn’t have representation of the community,” Paramore said. “In 1983 it was changed to using the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) list. If you’re licensed to drive, you can be on jury duty. We also use the voting registration list. Those two lists are fed into a computer, which randomly selects names.
“I nominated Eltha Booth for the jury commission and I don’t know if we’ve ever had minority representation on the jury commission. I’m very proud of making that nomination.”
Paramore said the clerk’s job is very challenging, but gave his staff credit for the success he has had in office so far.
“I’d compare our clerk’s office to any one in the state,” he said. “The folks that work in the clerk’s office are public servants,” he said. “One of the things I’m most proud of is that we still answer the phone. When you call our office, you will talk to an actual person. I know a lot of smaller clerk’s offices that have gone automated. Our staff is personable and will help you or direct you to someone who can.”
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tunne rat wrote on Jul 6, 2009 8:55 PM:
that is the biggest propganda word that every came out of butterfields and rino jones mouth in the past hundred years .
just 2 water boys for the obama socalist party , and a hand full of red necks that dont have a clue about whast they are talking about . "