Franklin aspires to be clerk

Jacob Franklin said he advocates efficient elections and the upkeep of county records.

To make this happen, he is running for the office of the Clerk of Monroe County Circuit Court.

He has been a deputy clerk for nine years, from 2003 to 2012, and said he has worked all the aspects of the elections.

“I’ve spent a third of my life in that office, and so I’m pretty well-versed in it,” Franklin said.

Franklin said he is a public service-driven person, and he loves helping others.

“I’d like to see fair, efficient elections,” Franklin said.

To become clerk, Franklin first filed his exploratory committee on Oct. 9 to seek the Republican nomination for the office of Clerk of Monroe Circuit Court during the 2014 primary election.

In order to advertise himself for the office and take donations for a campaign, Franklin said filing for exploratory committee was the first step.

In the first week of January, people wanting to take the clerk’s position file for declaration of candidacy.

Franklin said people who file for exploratory committee do not always follow through to declare their candidacies.

Franklin said he will declare it in January.

He said he is currently getting his website built and ready for February.

He wants his campaign to be as forthcoming and informing as possible, he said. Franklin said it is important that people know what the office does.

Marriage licenses, pre-trial diversions, seat belt tickets and underage consumption tickets are all things that are taken care of at the clerk’s office, Franklin said.

The clerk maintains all of the circuit court records, traffic tickets, criminal misdemeanors, criminal felonies, civil cases, child support and civil collections.

The position also requires maintaining marriage and divorce records, Franklin said.

Franklin said with all the IU students there is a lot of turnover with voter registration and a lot of address changes to be processed.

The county clerk also maintains voting machines and equipment used to administer the elections.

A face a lot of people see at the clerk’s office is mainly the elections office, Franklin said.

Any candidate for a public office has to go through the county clerk.
Franklin said the county clerk maintains all the documents from when the county was first established.

“You’ll have records from the 1800s that are in severe need of maintenance,” Franklin said.

He said he loves and believes in history because it shows where he comes from.

“I think it’s important because the people need to always remember where they’ve been and look forward to where they’re going,” Franklin said.

Follow reporter Mary Hauber on Twitter @mary_hauber.