VAIDEN — In his ninth year as Carroll County circuit clerk, Durward Stanton is also serving a one-year term as president of the Mississippi Circuit Clerks Association.
Being selected to the statewide office is “a very humbling honor,” he said.
“I became part of the association when I was elected circuit clerk over eight years ago,” he said. “I was in awe of my fellow clerks then and am even more in awe of them now.”
Before being selected to be president of the association, Stanton served in a number of leadership roles, including secretary, treasurer, second vice president and first vice president.
He also has been active in other areas of state government relating to his office. He was appointed to the Mississippi Election Law Reform Task Force by the Mississippi Legislature and served on the Mississippi Justice Court Task Force after being selected by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The secretary of state chose him to serve on the Statewide Election Management System’s Focus Group and to the Mississippi Voting Systems Advisory Group.
Stanton said the association monitors proposed legislation closely in order to “support those that would positively impact us locally and to fight those that would have negative repercussions, particularly unfunded mandates that are pushed down to our supervisors, forcing them to deal with these issues without financial support at the county level.”
Stanton said having excellent help in the staffs at both courthouses enables him to do his work in Carroll County while serving in his statewide roles.
“I am especially thankful for my two deputy clerks in the Vaiden courthouse, Brenda King and Sherry Blaylock, who make sure there is no compromise in service of the circuit clerk’s office to our citizens,” he said.
Stanton said his main goal in his elected office has been to honor the faith that the county residents have placed in him.
“I consider it a tremendous honor to serve the citizens of Carroll County,” he said. “My promise when I campaigned nine years ago was to provide leadership in the circuit clerk’s office. I hope the voters feel I have honored their trust in me.”
