Clerk swears in replacement, other officials

The last official act of Rodney Miller's 28-year tenure as Cape Girardeau County Clerk was to swear in his replacement, Kara Clark.

In a brief ceremony Friday morning at the County Administration Building in Jackson, Clark and eight returning officeholders began the terms they won in November's election. The longest-serving officeholder, Circuit Clerk Charles Hutson, a Democrat, is beginning his ninth term in office.

With the departure of Miller, the number of Democrats holding county offices was reduced to four, and all, like Hutson, are long-term incumbents. When Hutson took office, Democrats dominated county offices. Recorder of Deeds Janet Robert began another term Friday, as did Associate Circuit Judge Peter Statler, while the other Democrat, Jerry Reynolds, has two years remaining on his term.

Other officeholders, all Republicans, taking the oath for another term include Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, Collector Diane Diebold, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp and Auditor David Ludwig.

The swearing-in ceremony was a chance for pictures with family members and reminiscences. Swingle, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, noted that when he first took office, his 20-year-old daughter was just an infant.

The assembled group took a moment to thank Miller for his long service. Jones, a lifelong friend of Miller, presented him with a commendation that included a long list of service to state and national organizations and noted that he presided over the change in voting that moved the county from paper ballots counted by hand to ballots electronically scanned and counted as each vote is cast.

In an interview, Clark thanked Miller for making the transition easy. The former sales director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, Clark spent one day each week at the clerk's office following her primary victory in August and much of the past two weeks learning the workings of the office.

"Working with him and working with his staff, I feel very fortunate," Clark said.

Miller's office was bare of his personal effects, but papers remain stacked on his desk waiting for Clark. "I feel good about Cape Girardeau County," Miller said. "I'm just going to ride off into the sunset."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126