The reporter's notebook: the official newsletter of Georgia's Magistrate Court Clerks, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (Summer 2007)

Vol 2, Issue 2

The Reporter's

Summer 2007

Notebook

The Official Newsletter of Georgia's Magistrate Court Clerks

Executive Committee 2006/2007 Officers
President, Jo Anne Jones Lowndes County
Vice-President, Debbie Barron Fayette County
Secretary/Treasurer, Gayle Collins Whitfield County
Executive District Members
DISTRICT 1: Darlene Seagroves, Effingham Co.
DISTRICT 2: Joyce Ray, Terrell County
DISTRICT 3: Carla Brown, Lee County
DISTRICT 4: Joy Wright, Rockdale County
DISTRICT 5: Vacant
DISTRICT 6: Jan Streetman, Upson County
DISTRICT 7: Freda Maynard, Whitfield County
DISTRICT 8: Tammy Underwood, Greene County
DISTRICT 9: Brenda Gramling, Cherokee County
DISTRICT 10: Cynthia Lewis, Burke County

Greetings from the President

Iwould like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for allowing me to serve as President of our organization. After being your President for four (4) years, I feel that it is time for someone else to take over that duty.
I would like to say a special thank you to Judge Holt for guiding us in the right direction over the past four years. I feel that she has had a great impact on all of us. Also, I would like to thank Debbie and Gayle for serving with me during my time. I never had to worry about anything getting done;

they always made sure that I had everything that I needed. To the district representatives it was great having each of you work with us and always willing to help out where ever need, thank you.
I truly hope that I have helped make a difference in our organization. If you should ever need me, please do not hesitate to call. I hope to see each of you at the summer training in July.
Thank you once again.
Jo Anne Jones President

Greetings from the Vice President

Hi Everyone,
It's that time again. Hope to see all of you at our training seminar at Brasstown Valley in Young Harris, Georgia July 11-13, 2007. The Executive Board met in Athens on March 27th to plan this year's training. I believe we have some great sessions set up with instructors who you will find to be both informative and interesting. Also, remember this is an election year, so we will be electing new officers and district representatives. If you would like to run for

office or wish to nominate someone, please let one of the officers or your district representatives know.
The certificates are being prepared differently this year. They will state "Certificates of Training" and not just attendance. The new version will also state you have successfully completed 14 hours of training; which should be recognized and accepted by your Human Resources Department as outside training. We found that a majority of counties require you to attend training classes each year and this type of certificate should satisfy that require-
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The Reporter's Notebook

Council of Magistrate Court Clerks and Secretaries

OFFICERS
PRESIDENT: JO ANNE JONES:( LOWNDES COUNTY) P.O. BOX 1349 VALDOSTA, GA. 31603-1249 OFF: 229-671-2620/FAX 671-3440 jjones@lowndescounty.com
VICE-PRESIDENT: DEBBIE BARRON (FAYETTE COUNTY) JUSTICE CENTER 1 CENTER DRIVE FAYETTEVILLE, GA. 30214 OFF: 770-716-4230/ 770-716-4236 FAX: 770-716-4855 dbarron@admin.co.fayette.ga.us
SECRETARY/TRES: GAIL COLLINS ( WHITEFIELD ) 210 N. THORNTON AVENUE P.O. BOX 386 DALTON, GA. 30722-0386 OFF: 706-278-5052/F 278-8810 gcollins@whitfieldcounty.ga.com
ADVISOR: JUDGE CONNIE HOLT P.O. BOX 589 MADISON, GA. 30650 OFF: 706-342-3088/F 343-6364 cholt@morganga.org
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM SPECIALIST: DR. LYNDA HANSCOME I.C.J.E THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 123 DEAN RUSK HALL ATHENS, GA. 30602-6025 OFF: 706-542-7401/F 542-4211 Lynda@icje.lawsch.uga.edu

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
DISTRICT: 1 DARLENE SEAGROVES ( EFFINGHAM CO.) P.O. BOX 819 SPRINGFIELD, GA. 31329 912-754-2124
DISTRICT: 2 JOYCE RAY ( TERRELL CO.) P.O. BOX 793 DAWSON, GA 31742 229-995-3757
DISTRICT: 3 CARLA BROWN ( LEE COUNTY) P.O. BOX 522 LEESBURG, GA 31763-0522 229-759-6016
DISTRICT: 4 JOY WRIGHT ( ROCKDALE CO.) P.O. BOX 289 CONYERS, GA. 30012 770-929-4075 joy.wright@rockdalecounty.org
DISTRICT: 5 VACANT
DISTRICT: 6 JAN STREETMAN ( UPSON CO.) P.O. BOX 890 THOMASTON, GA. 30286 706-647-6891 jstreetman@mail.com
DISTRICT: 7 FREDA MAYNARD ( WHITFIELD CO.) P.O. BOX 386 DALTON, GA. 30722-0386 706-278-5052

DISTRICT: 8 TAMMY UNDERWOOD ( GREENE CO.) 113 NORTH MAIN ST, SUITE 113 GREENSBORO, GA 30642 706-453-3346 tambone22@hotmail.com
DISTRICT: 9 BRENDA GRAMLING ( CHEROKEE CO.) 90 NORTH ST. SUITE 150 CANTON, GA. 30114 678-493-6427 bgramling@cherokeega.com
DISTRICT: 10 CYNTHIA LEWIS (BURKE CO.) P.O. BOX 1375 WAYNESBORO, GA. 30830 706-554-8750 cynthia1375@burkecounty-ga.gov
Vice President cont.
ment. The certificates will be given out at the end of Friday's session.
I would like to thank Dr. Hanscome and her staff, Judge Holt, the District Representatives and the Executive Board for their diligence and hard work in making your yearly seminar as interesting and informative as possible.
See you in July!
Debbie Barron Vice President

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From Your Advisor

Hello everyone. Hope everyone is doing well and had a great New Year. Well, spring has passed and school is out, so it is officially summer time. Soon to be time for our next meeting and training for the Council of Magistrate Court Clerks and Secretaries. Our next meeting and training will again be at Brasstown Valley Resort, in Young Harris, GA, July 11th-13th, 07. Dr. Lynda Hanscome mailed the information to you all earlier and we have a really good crowd of clerks and secretaries coming. She really provided a wonderful training last year and will be presenting another great one again this year.
Your Executive Committee had a Curriculum Planning meeting in Athens on March 27, 2007, to assist Dr. Hanscome in planning for our

July training. Those of you that will be attending the training and meeting received an agenda in advance. As you can see we have a great program planned.
I would also like to mention you all of you and remind you of the email that was sent to you concerning the voting for awards. The e-mail came from Freda Maynard, Nominations Committee Chairperson. She had requested for each of you to vote on awards for the Clerk of the Year and Special Appreciation Award. Just a reminder, if you have not voted, please send in your vote to her as soon as possible. Her e-mail address is: fmaynard@whitfieldcountyga.com or fax her at 706-278-8810, or mail Freda Maynard , P.O. Box 386, Dalton, Ga. 30722-0386.

Comings and Goings
RETIRED MRS. ERNESTINE BOWEN RETIRED ON APRIL 30, 2007 WITH 20
YEARS OF SERVICE WITH THE MAGISTRATE COURT DOOLY COUNTY, 5 YEARS WITH CHIEF MAGISTRATE JUDGE WILLIAM "AL" WILLIS.
NEW CLERK STACEY ASKEW, ON MAY 1, 2007, BECAME THE FULL-TIME
CLERK FOR THE MAGISTRATE COURT, DOOLY COUNTY. SHE HAS ALMOST TWO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS THE PART-TIME CLERK FOR JUDGE WILLIS.
SHE HAS BEEN MARRIED FOR SEVEN YEARS AND HAS ONE DAUGHTER. MRS. ASKEW IS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SEMINAR IN JULY.

Please Recycle

If anyone is interested in working on the newsletter or is interested in being the newsletter editor, please let me know. I promise I won't loose you names this time.
Thank you, each and every one of you for all you do for your Judges. If it were not for you all, we could not do our jobs. Remember, you are the backbone of the Magistrate Courts.
Well, that's all for now. I really look forward to seeing you all at Brasstown Valley.
Connie Holt Chief Judge Magistrate Court Morgan County
A Day in the
Life of...
Ihave been the clerk of Probate and Magistrate Court for two years. My duties as Magistrate Court Clerk are processing civil claims, criminal warrants, and performing all general clerical duties. As Probate Court Clerk my functions are processing marriage licenses, firearm licenses, serving as the Deputy Registrar and Copy Clerk for vital records. As Copy Clerk I make copies of birth certificates and death certificates as well as maintaining the filings. Additionally, I do disbursements at the end of each month of all monies taken into the Courts.
Jackie Gressinger Clerk, Probate and Magistrate Court Treutlen County, Georgia

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Greetings from Morgan County

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Amy Shelton, Senior Deputy Clerk
I have been a Deputy Clerk for the Morgan County Magistrate Court since 1994. Out of those 13 years I've only missed 1 Clerks/Secretaries Training which was last year. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Karlie Louann Shelton on, April 05, 2006 and hated the thought of leaving her even to have to go back to work, much less staying away from her for a couple of nights. (It took my husband and me, seven years to have her).
On a sadder note I lost my precious Mom on November 18, 2006 from pancreatic cancer. (She got sick about the same time that I had Karlie). It's been a hard and emotional year with some good and some bad, so I'm ready for a break.
Can't wait to see everyone in July! I missed seeing everyone last year.
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN! Lucinda Edwards, Chief Deputy Clerk
Hi, my name is Lucinda Edwards, Chief Deputy Clerk in Morgan County Magistrate Court. It's almost that time again for the 2007 Clerks and Secretaries Seminar. I had a wonderful time last year at the seminar. It renewed what I knew or what I thought I knew and educated me on things that I did not know. I do not know about everyone else, but I enjoyed seeing all the old clerks and new ones too. It is my hope to see everyone again this year.
See you all there at Brastown Valley!

Hope Christian, Deputy Clerk
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday.
On July 10, 2006 we moved back into our renovated courthouse. It took a while to get settled and organized; with all of us pitching in we finally got there. It was a lot of hard work. We were so glad to get more space; we really did need it. It is so nice to have our hearings in the courthouse courtroom instead at the jail or in our old senior center building. Since being back in the courthouse we all feel safe because of our courthouse security. We really do appreciate having those guys around.
I can't wait to see everyone at clerk school in July.
Jennifer Walker, Deputy Clerk
Hello everyone. My name is Jennifer Walker, 31 years old, born & raised in Morgan County and have been here all of my life. I am a single mother of my beautiful daughter Morgan whom will be 7 years old on June 1st. I lost my father recently whom was diag-

nosed with lung and brain cancer in April of 2006. My father lived with me and with the help of my older sister; we took care of my father. With Judge Holt's understanding of my taking care of my father, I wasn't able to attend the secretaries training last year. I am excited to be able to attend this year and meet all of you, and look forward to what I can learn in the class.
I worked part time for Judge Holt here in the Magistrate Court when I was 16 years old and in high school. I can remember having to do a project in school and I presented Judge Holt with an award for "Best Boss". I thought so then about her, and I feel the same now. Back then it was a smaller staff which consisted of Judge Holt, Lucinda Edwards, and me. I am glad that I had the opportunity to come back to work with Judge Holt and Lucinda, and to meet and work with Amy and Hope, the other clerks that are on staff now.
Again, I look forward to meeting all of you in Brasstown Valley this year.

Congratulations!!

The office of the Ben Hill County Magistrate Court would like to congratulate Deputy Clerk Jamie McBryde on her new arrival. She gave birth to a baby boy, Conner Gene, on February 27th 2007. He weighed 6lbs 7ounces & 19 1/2 inches long.

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THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS

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New Spaces...

EFFINGHAM COUNTY Darlene Seagroves, Warrant Clerk
Effingham County's new judicial complex is now in full swing, helping the public and its citizens. We are very proud to have a new complex and are thankful for all who make it possible to serve our community. The new complex has been in use since January 2007. The grand opening for dedica-

tion and ribbon-cutting ceremony was March 25, 2007 for the community to tour through the 57,000 square foot structure. Everyone had anticipated the completion and has expressed their gratitude not only for
the spacious building, but also for the security that we now have. We know whom to thank and we are blessed. We are proud to continue to help the public.
Online information for Effingham county judicial complex is www.effinghamcounty.org

WILKINSON COUNTY
Chief Magistrate Judge Vivian L. Cummings and her staff: Magistrate Judges: Rita Harrison, Carolyn Ingram, Faye Green and Clerk, Rosa Smith are enjoying their new magistrate office in the new courthouse. They officially moved into their new spot in November of 2006. They spent many long hours preparing for their move; even staying up past midnight at times but in all it was worth it. Judge Cummings says that her staff is much happier now performing their office duties. Now they smile a lot these days.

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244 Washington Street, Suite 300 Atlanta, GA 30334