County Clerk

The Nicholasville Council Petition Committee is hosting a news conference at noon Tuesday, May 1, in the Jessamine County Fiscal Court meeting room prior to submitting the petition of signatures to the county clerk. The public is invited to the event. For more information, call 859-221-2008.

Former Jessamine County Clerk Mildred Williams Johnson died Friday, Jan. 27, at Royal Manor Nursing Home. She was 92. Johnson served as Jessamine County clerk from 1981-1989. Current county clerk Eva McDaniel said Johnson was a true public servant. “I worked for her for a few years, and she was a wonderful person,” McDaniel said. “She was a good county clerk; she did her job, and the county was lucky to have her, and she served the public well.” Johnson was born Dec. 22, 1919, to the late Thomas and Ivy Shryock Holman.

LANCASTER - John Wilson has recently taken on a new role that goes beyond his normal duties as Garrard County judge-executive.  He's become a tour guide for the grand $11.9-million palace of justice that will open just off Town Square in two weeks. It's a job he relishes. “It's kind of like one of your own kids - you don't mind showing it off,” Wilson said during one of three tours he gave Thursday. When the Garrard County Justice Center opens for official business on Jan. 23, it will mark the culmination - and beginning - of a once-in-a-lifetime project that has been a long time coming.  Sheriff Ronnie Wardrip recalls hearing talk of a new courthouse as far back as the late 1990s.

Jessamine County officials and Churchill Crossing residents honored 32 veterans and 12 widows of deceased veterans during a ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 9, in the community off North Main Street in Nicholasville. Veterans honored were Churchill Crossing residents and had served in arenas including South Pacific jungles, hand-to-hand combat at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, and in Saigon in 1973. Guests at the event included Nicholasville Mayor Russ Meyer, Jessamine County Judge-Executive Neal Cassity, county clerk Eva McDaniel and Miss Kentucky Ann-Blair Thornton.

LANCASTER — Former employee Elizabeth Lane allegedly took close to $20,000 from the Garrard County Clerk’s Office by improperly voiding vehicle registration payments, according to an audit released this week by state Auditor Crit Luallen. During 2009, Lane voided all or part of 170 transactions, totaling $3,247, according to the audit. Auditors also identified more instances of improper voiding in 2010, when 717 transactions were altered, totaling $16,714. The total amount missing is $19,961.

Sgt. and Mrs. Ronald Clay Pasley and children, Rhonda Ann and Robbie have returned to their home in Fort Knox following a holiday visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Clay Pasley, Schollsville Road. Clark County Clerk Beckner Shimfessel administered the oath of office to the Clark County Fiscal Court, Clark County Judge-Executive and Clark County Attorney Sunday morning at the Clark County Courthouse. Shimfessel also administered the oath of office to Anita Shimfessel Jones, his daughter, who will take his place as county clerk.

Democratic incumbent County Clerk Eva McDaniel topped Republican challenger Joseph Hagen by a count of 8,381 to 7,547. McDaniel, who was coordinating the tally at the courthouse Tuesday night, barely had time to stop and acknowledge the win. She said her key to victory was “being open and honest with the public, and I don’t promise something I can’t deliver.” Neither candidate faced a challenge in May’s primary. McDaniel has held the position since 1990.

It was closer than some may have expected, including the victorious candidate, but incumbent Democrat Harold McKinney held off Republican challenger Lynn Harmon by 1,333 votes. With several hard fought national races up the ticket, Boyle County turned out almost 50 percent (9,177) of about 19,200 registered voters, far exceeding county clerk Trille Bottom’s early projection of 30 to 35 percent, which was based on a relatively low number of absentee ballots. McKinney has been in almost perpetual campaign mode since being appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear after Tony Wilder took a job in Frankfort, fending off Republican Pete Kendrick in a special election before besting a long list of candidates in the May primary.

Dear Editor, Boyle County is favored with an excellent team of elected officials. With Harold McKinney as judge-executive, Richard Campbell as county attorney, Marty Elliott as sheriff and Trille Bottom as county clerk, we have had competent, solvent, understandable government in Boyle County. I urge my fellow citizens to re-elect them all. Beau Weston Danville

Dear Editor, I wish to express my support for Trille Bottom for Boyle County Clerk. I’ve known Trille and her family for some time now. Besides being honest and trustworthy, she always has a smile on her face no matter what kind of day she is having. Her warm smile and willingness to go out of her way to help takes some of the sting out of the sometimes unpleasant task of renewing vehicle registration. Trille takes her responsibilities very seriously and takes great pride in working for the citizens of Boyle County.