Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County clerk unites 335 couples in marriage

Many people realize voter registration lists and election results come from the county clerks office, but perhaps few are aware a county clerk can join couples together in marriage.

Clark County Clerk Rhonda Cole told the Okolona City Council Aug. 1 she has married 335 couples since 1999. That was the year Arkansas law gave county clerks the authority to perform the marriage ceremony.

She said, I have married 335 couples as of today (Aug. 1). Of course, in Clark County, somebody has to come up with $58 if they want a marriage license.

Cole said the $58 does not all stay in Clark County, but is distributed throughout Arkansas.

She said her office sells traditional marriage licenses, or a couple can get a covenant marriage license.

A covenant license stipulates the marriage partners will stay together two years for counseling after they have had a problem.

The covenant kind is popular right now, Cole said.

If someone is curious about a particular marriage license, the county clerks office has a record of the bond issued when the marriage license was granted.

The couple keeps the actual license. Clark County marriage records go back to 1821. Other vital statistics are also available.

We have delayed birth and death records since 1914, she said. The rest are in Little Rock.

According to Cole, her office has three full-time employees. She also hires a part-timer for 20 days during elections. She pays minimum wage to the part-time help.

Cole said Wednesday, Aug. 9, is the deadline to turn in petitions for candidates wanting to run for office in the Nov. 7 election.

The county clerks office must receive your petition by that date before you are a certified candidate for the office you seek, she said.

Cole told Okolona Mayor James Paul she would double check the cut-off date since he had been under the impression it was a bit later.

I have CDs available to any candidate concerning voter list information, Cole said.

She asked council members if they had voted electronically during the May Primary, and all of them said they did.

Cole said all regular voters must use the electronic machines in November, but each site will have a paper ballot for someone who is arbitrarily asked to prove they have the same address as when they were registered.

Cole passed out voter registration lists to the crowd, but warned that the numbers can be deceiving.

If a voter goes four years without voting, then the voter is mailed a card, she said. If we dont get the card back by mail, the voter is put on an inactive list for two more years. Then he or she is removed.

So essentially, you could be looking at a name on the list of someone who has been an inactive voter for as long as six years.

As to candidates in an election, the county clerks office carries records of all contributions and donations made to each candidate. All of that information is available to the public, she said.

Started in 1990

Cole began working in the county clerks office in 1990 and did so until 1994. Then she worked for the county judge until 1998 when she ran for the office of county clerk and won.

I took the office in January of 1999 with just my high school diploma and some courthouse experience, she said. Much of what I have found out is from on the job learning.

Cole said the legal system, even just in Clark County, is a challenge because the laws change every legislative session.

She is a member of the county clerks association and consistently participates in continuing education.

All three of my girls and I went to classes for electronic voting machine training, she said.

Also, she said the county clerks office got a new computer system in 2005 that has made her life a whole lot easier.

We can match people from Clark County to Pulaski County, or county by county across the the state, she said. I have purged 512 voters who were actually registered in more than one county at the same time. If they live in Clark County now, I pull all of their signatures and information from their old county.

The computer can search for duplicate registration out of state as well, going by name and date of birth, looking for any possible matches in the state.

Cole said there are 12,323 registered voters in Clark County.

Cole said all county offices are audited once a year through election laws.

We have tried to stay prepared and have only been written up one time since 1999, she said. We took care of it right away. We are all very conscientious about our jobs at the courthouse.

Equalization

In addition to being the county clerk, Cole is the secretary to the Equalization Board, which is currently in session.

Cole said that five-member board meets annually, from Aug. 1 until October, to settle questions on such things as house appraisals, in an effort to help determine accurate taxes.

In the courthouse, the county clerks office is accounts payable, she said.

The invoices are sent to us for all of the countys purchases. Then they are sent to the county judge, the treasurer for signature and back to us to mail out.

Cole said the current Clark County budget is $9.5 million, and there are 140 full and part-time employees.

We do payroll, she said. We can not go 1 cent over what is appropriated or we get into trouble.

The county clerks office does probate for deceased folk, those who have been committed, and for adoptions. All are public record except for adoptions.

The adoption records are sealed.

Besides probate, we do tax reports for the community and state land redemption, she said. We finalize tax settlements at the end of the year.

Cole said anything she does, except for adoption records, is available for the public to copy for 25 cents.

There is no charge for looking things up.

We stay pretty busy, but if you need us come by or call, Cole said.