Al Jean Bogle has served as Catawba County clerk of court for more than 10 years. She'd like the job for another four.
Bogle filed Monday for re-election.
Bogle worked on Cass Ballenger's congressional staff, helping with Medicare, when the county's clerk of court, Barbara Towery, died of breast cancer. Bogle applied to be the clerk of court and completed the rest of Towery's term. She has won every election since.
While in office, Bogle said she has steadily improved the efficiency of the job. She said she has improved the way records are stored, so they can be found more quickly. She's had two clean audits performed during her years in office.
Bogle has built two small private rooms where people can discuss estate matters with deputy clerks and has created three access terminals the public can use to look up liens, judgments or other proceedings.
"That's really important to do, because if a house is in foreclosure and you're looking to buy it, you need to come in and see if there are back taxes or liens on the property, because you could be paying more than you expected," Bogle said.
In September, Bogle, 64, also switched to a new computer program to make the juror information more streamlined. A clerk used to manually keep track of whether a person showed up for jury duty, if they were excused, if they had served and other information, Bogle said. The records are now kept electronically.
Bogle said she has also handled the additional workload handed down by the state.
"The legislature passes 600 to 700 new bills every year, and about 75 percent usually impact this office, adding to our responsibilities," she said. "We are doing a lot of things district judges used to do, like estate work."
Even during her 10-plus years on the job, Bogle said the job's duties have increased significantly. She said someone new to the job might impact how services are performed.
"A new clerk, who's not familiar, would be like putting the brakes on and slowing things down," Bogle said. "It takes a long time to wrap your arms around the job and feel like you know it. A new clerk, starting from the get-go, would significantly impact the office."
The clerk of court acts in three capacities: a judicial officer for non-criminal matters, such as estates, foreclosures and boundary disputes; a human resources manager, overseeing the records of the deputy clerks; and an auditor, responsible for court fines and other financial matters. There is a bookkeeper and an assistant bookkeeper Bogle oversees.
"There's a whole lot more to this job than just signing papers," Bogle said.
She said all the offices in the justice system, from the sheriff's department to the district attorney's office to the register of deeds' office, depend on each other, and the clerk of court's office is a necessary cog in the wheel.
"The justice system is like a big funnel, and we're at the bottom," Bogle said. "We're the record keepers. We have to make sure it's documented and filed correctly, because it may be needed later. Down the road, someone in another department may depend on what I do."
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