December 30, 2000
Technology arrival among changes in clerk's tenure
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
Technology, an increased number of cases and two unopposed elections are among the experiences of the retiring Seneca County clerk of courts.
Carol Cleveland will retire at the end of her term, to be replaced by Mary Ward, a deputy clerk who won the Nov. 7 election.
Cleveland started to work at the clerk's office Sept. 1, 1973. At the time the clerk of courts was Mary Zeiter.
According to Ohio law, the clerk maintains all civil and criminal records, and appeals and divorce cases. The clerk issues summonses, court orders and other papers for service.
Also, the office is responsible for distributing money received from court judgments, court costs and other fees.
The title department maintains title records for cars, motorcycle, boats and other vehicles.
Cleveland spent her whole career in the legal department.
"I took child support payments -- mostly cash," she said.
Cleveland had applied at all the county offices, looking for a full-time job after her children started school.
Zeiter retired, and Wanda Bowersox became clerk. When Bowersox decided to retire, she encouraged Cleveland to seek the job.
In her first election, Cleveland faced opposition in the Republican primary from Pay Helkey, who worked for Judge Thomas Spellerberg. It was a good campaign, she said.
"There was nothing bad between us," Cleveland said.
This was the only opposition Cleveland ever had for the job. She was re-elected in 1992 and 1996.
"Mostly, people don't even know what the clerk does," she said. "If you've never been in court or had any contact with the court, you wouldn't know what the clerk does."
The office has charged a lot during Cleveland's tenure.
"When we started, it was all typewriter and writing in books," she said. "That's the way records were kept."
In recent years, though, the office has added computers, which maintain records from 1993 forward, and fax machines and other technology. This means the public has better, easier access to records, Cleveland said.
The office handles more records than ever, she said.
During Cleveland's tenure, from January 1989 to November 2000, the title department typed 304,760 titles, and contributed a total of $1,954,385 in fees to the county.
The legal department handled 7,541 civil cases, 3.172 criminal cases, 647 court of appeals cases and contributed $2,647,196 in fees to county coffers.
In 1989, Cleveland's first year in office, the clerk of courts filed 22,477 titles, 621 civil cases, 238 criminal cases and 52 appeals.
Through November 2000, the office already had handled 23,538 titles, 836 civil cases, 289 criminal cases and 43 appeals. Through November, all but the appeals exceed those that were filed in Cleveland's entire first year.
The fees paid increased dramatically during her time in office.
In 1989, fees paid to the title office totalled $115,000. In 1999, through November, the amount was $192,000.
In the legal department, the fees rose from $73,000 to $213,000.
The increase is due to more lawsuits being filed and thus, more paperwork and more fees.
While the county went from one judge with two employees to two judges with three employees and a magistrate, the clerk's office has stayed pretty much the same, currently having a total of 10 employees.
Since Cleveland started working there, one deputy clerk was added to the legal department, and two to the title department. One of the new title employees was added while Cleveland was the clerk of courts.
In the future, Cleveland says the clerks' records will be able to be accessed online.
"Many counties are doing that now," she said.
The old records books will still be maintain, Cleveland said.
"I don't look for them to to get rid of the old, old books," she said.
Overall, Cleveland said she enjoyed her time in the clerk's office.
"I've met a lot of nice people," she said.