Published: September 05, 2008 04:26 am      

Remodeled county clerk’s office unveiled

Local News

“It has been said that I am always ready for change, and I guess it’s true.”

Ralph Troxtell is living up to his image. The former magistrate, now midway of his first term as county clerk, has made more changes in the county clerk’s office during the last two years than in the 33 years since the current courthouse was built.

Customers won’t recognize the clerk’s office when they walk through the door. The remodeled office opened Wednesday morning. Three “U”-shaped counters with 16 deputy clerk stations have replaced the original straight-across-the-front counter.

“We have almost doubled the number of stations accessible to the public,” said Troxtell. See-through glass, still being prepared, will provide security for deputy clerks and the many financial transactions that take place in the office. An electronic door will protect the interior of the clerk’s office.

Internally, a Point of Sale System has been installed and is operational. Point of Sale equipment, supplied by the state, basically makes each deputy clerk’s station operate like a bank teller’s station. In other words, each deputy clerk is responsible for her own cashbox and each clerk balances her receipts and money at the end of the day.

“That’s what we do now at the (Somerset Mall) branch office,” said Troxtell. “Once we get used to it (at the courthouse office) it will be a lot faster and more convenient system,” he added. All filings involving money are incorporated in the Point of Sale System, he said.

The branch office at the mall, a campaign promise, was the initial major change Troxtell incorporated as county clerk. He says the mall office has been an unbelievable success and has virtually eliminated lines at the main office in the courthouse. The additional stations in the renovated main clerk’s office should make standing in line a thing of the past, he says.

The renovation and equipment changes at the clerk’s office were done during the Labor Day weekend, plus an extra day. The office closed at 4:30 last Friday afternoon and reopened with the new look at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

“I want to thank everybody who gave up their holiday weekend and worked with me to make this possible,” the county clerk said. He gave special thanks to Rick Barker, director of Pulaski County 9-1-1 Communications Center, for designing the realigned office and spending the holiday weekend helping put the project together.

“It’s amazing to install that much equipment and make all those changes in one weekend,” said Barker.

Troxtell is extremely proud of the new look in the clerk’s office. “It cost some money, but it’s money to provide better service to the people ... people don’t want to stand in line. They want good service,” he reasoned

The county clerk also has applied for $40,000 in grant funds to update all records in the vault area in the main office. These include deeds, mortgages and power of attorney books.

“It won’t change the records, but the binders will be updated and some pages will be re-sleeved in plastic,” the clerk said.

Troxtell estimates that updating records in the vault may cost up to $100,000. Cost above the $40,000 grant will be paid with fees from his office, he indicated.