After 20 years as Clerk, Debbie Clark retiring

    Debbie Clark has been the Chase County Clerk for the past 20 years and will retire in January.
    “I have worked for Chase County in one capacity or another since I graduated from McCook Community College in 1975,” she said.
    Clark worked as a secretary at the Chase County Extension until 1979, then was employed as Deputy County Clerk until May 1982.
    “I had resigned from that position because my husband had died in June of 1981,” she said. “I needed to disengage from some things for a while.”
    In February 1983, Clark was assigned to the County Assessor’s office.
    For the next dozen years Clark worked in the Chase County Treasurer’s office and the County Assessor’s office, at times being a joint employee of both offices.
    “In 1996 I was appointed to cover the County Court then appointed as the Deputy Clerk of the Court. I remember I was also working full-time in the County Treasurer’s office at that time,” she said.
    “In 2003, I was the Deputy County Treasurer when I went on the primary ballot for County Clerk, where I have since served until my upcoming retirement,” she said.
    It was beneficial, Clark noted, having the direct experience in the assessor’s office, then the treasurer’s office prior to becoming County Clerk.
    “Understanding what occurs in the chain of events of county government gives a person an appreciation of the big picture,” she said.
    The County Clerk position includes a myriad of responsibilities. Some of them include real estate filings, court dates, reconciling accounts, payrolls, marriage licenses, passports and Clerk of District Court responsibilities.
    Frequently, rules and regulations from the state are changed that require compliance in how they do day-to-day business, she noted.
    There are ongoing training in workshops for the County Clerk and a requirement of eight hours of annual training for the Clerk of District Court.
    “I have enjoyed being a part of a county government component that requires dedication. I like cutting checks to pay accounts payable, reconciling accounts, updating voter registration records and most everything else,” she said.
    She couldn’t say she has a favorite duty as County Clerk, but added, “my least favorite activity is taking the minutes,” at commissioner meetings, she said.
    “The meetings can go on for hours and the duty requires being at listening level one the whole time,” she said.
    Clark said while she’s enjoyed being dedicated to the job, after 20 years she believes she can adjust to retirement.         But the dedication part almost kept her on for awhile longer.
    “Early this year I had decided not to run again, but it was getting close to the Feb. 15 deadline to file for the primary, and no one had filed on the ballot for County Clerk,” she said.
    “So I was feeling in good conscience I couldn’t retire if there wasn’t someone dedicated to take it over, ” she said.
    She had voiced the thought in the office and, soon after, her Deputy Clerk Wendy Moe filed, went on the ballot unopposed and advanced out of the primary. She was unopposed in the General Election and will be the next Chase County Clerk in January.
    Clark plans to remain in Imperial and the home she’s lived in since 2000.
    “I took up quilting some years ago and I have some partially finished quilts still sitting where I started them,” she said.
    She’s attended Zion Lutheran Church in Imperial her entire life and continues as an active member. She said she’ll have more time for that, too.
    She also has a 19-year-old grandson in the Army who will be coming home for Christmas.
    “He’s applied for some advanced training he wants to tell me about,” she said.