August 22, 2019 3:45 a.m.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners are accepting applications from people interested in serving as the Interim Douglas County Clerk.
That follows this week’s announcement that County Clerk Patricia Hitt will be retiring. Hitt has confirmed that she will step down from her elected office on September 30th which is 15 months before her term was set to expire.
A County release said the interim appointment will serve until the end of December in 2020. Interested persons can download an application packet from the county website: www.co.douglas.or.us. Applications can also be picked up at the Commissioner’s Office in room 217 of the courthouse.
Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on September 20th in order to be considered. The release said applications will be considered over a 5-day review period. There will be a public meeting on Wednesday September 25th in conjunction with the Board’s weekly business meeting to allow applicants to discuss their application and allow for public comment. It is anticipated that the Interim County Clerk will be appointed on October 2nd.
The release said an official County Clerk will be elected by the voters in the November 2020 election. Anyone interested in running for the Clerk position must file by the May Primary deadline. If only 2 people file the position goes directly to the November ballot. If there are 3 or more candidates, then it will be on May ballot. The top 2 winners in May will then move to the November ballot unless 1 person receives more than 50% of the votes. Then only that person’s name will appear on the November ballot. The first day to file to run in the May Primary is September 12th of this year.
For more information go to www.co.douglas.or.us
Commissioner Chris Boice was on Inside Douglas County Wednesday on News Radio 1240 KQEN talking about the Clerk’s office and many other County issues. That interview is a KQEN podcast at www.541radio.com