MOUNDSVILLE – Two longtime employees of the Marshall County Clerk’s Office seek the seat, with Connie Howard challenging incumbent Melanie Madden, who was appointed to the role at the beginning of the year.

Madden was appointed by the Marshall County Commission to take over from retiring county clerk Jan Pest at the start of 2022, and has worked in the clerk’s office for 27 years in total. Madden is running as a Democrat.

Her long career in the office gave her the skills to handle the role of clerk well, Madden said.

“It’s a natural extension because I’ve performed every job here over the course of the 27 years I’ve been here,” Madden said. “It’s always a learning experience, too, because things crop up, but my idea is that we’re all public servants. We’re here to help the public navigate this office as seamlessly as possible, and we’re here to help them because they pay our salaries.”

Over her career, Madden said she was proud to have helped the office’s numerous procedures run smoothly.

“I’ve been a lifelong resident of Marshall County, and I just want the people to know we’re public servants, and we’re here to serve them.”

Howard said she’s been an employee at the Marshall County Courthouse for 30 years, the first 12 as a deputy assessor under Chris Kessler, and then the remaining 18 in the clerk’s office, mostly under the direction of Pest. Howard is running as a Republican.

“I know from my experience with people, in talking to people and helping them in various aspects of both offices, that I would be a good leader,” she said.

Howard said that, like many people who stay with a job for years on end, she has several ideas for how to improve the county clerk’s office. Primarily, she said, the office would benefit from additional employees, especially in the probate section.

“I would update the probate section of our office,” Howard said. “Because of the oil and gas industry, most people have to probate now, because maybe they have everything laid out in a will, but at the time they wrote the will, they didn’t realize they had oil and gas, which most people do. The probate work alone has increased greatly; it’s really, in my opinion, a two-person job, and I think that needs to be addressed.

“Also, we could easily use at least two more employees. It’s not like we don’t get the work done, because the staff does, but it’s overwhelming, and it shouldn’t be. It should be where we can greet the customer, handle all their affairs, and get your deskwork done without sacrificing anything. Marshall County has the money to increase employment opportunities in the office, as well as organizing it. There’s outdated storage systems that need to be addressed. I’ve got some ideas for what we could implement.

Howard said she’s highly involved with the community, including with youth sports, and has been politically active since she was 19 with various political groups and executive committees.