Bollinger County Circuit Clerk Sharon Lutes resigns

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to omit inaccurate information regarding some construction work at the courthouse.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Bollinger County Circuit Clerk Sharon Lutes resigned from office Tuesday for medical reasons.

Lutes first worked as a deputy circuit clerk for eight years and is in the third year of her fourth term in office.

Her replacement has not yet been named. Gov. Jay Nixon will appoint someone to fill in the rest of her term, which will end in December 2010.

"It has been wonderful," Lutes said Tuesday morning. "The people in Bollinger County have been wonderful to me."

When Lutes first began working in the clerk's office, it was combined with the recorder's office. She was serving her first term when the county received a grant to move all the old records from the courthouse basement.

"That was when the historical society got started," she said. "A lot of those old records weren't salvageable, but a whole lot was gained."

While it was a difficult decision for her to make, Lutes said she is leaving on a positive note.

"I have loved working for the people of Bollinger County," she said. "I've had some good times, enjoyable times."