The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors named Sharon Livingston interim chancery clerk Monday after learning procedural rules prevent the former deputy clerk from issuing payroll checks to employees.
Supervisors unanimously appointed Livingston to the role after former Chancery Clerk Monica Banks died Friday from an extended illness. Livingston was sworn in this morning at the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
The board’s order also alerts Oktibbeha County election commissioners to a special election next year to fill the position. That election is expected to be held in November, and the qualification window for the race should close 60 days prior to election day.
Livingston, who has worked in the chancery clerk’s office since 2000, said she will run in next year’s special election.
“I have big shoes to fill. It’s going to be very hard, and I’m just hoping that the citizens of Oktibbeha County will help me and bear with me,” Livingston said. “(Banks) was my mentor, and she tried to prepare me for this. I still thought I had three years to go. This was her wish, and I’m going to do everything in my power to fulfill her wish.”
Supervisors were expected to delay the appointment until after Banks’ funeral scheduled for this weekend, but the potential inability to cut checks to clerk’s office employees forced the board into action.
Banks previously told board members and County Administrator Emily Garrard that she would want Livingston to serve in her place if something ever happened to her, both District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and Garrard said.
“If she were sitting here right now, I bet Mrs. Banks would say, ‘Look, keep my office running smoothly and pay my people,'” Montgomery said. “I respect Mrs. Banks greatly, and I think this … is paying her respect, by taking care of her office.”
The chancery clerk’s office was closed Friday and Monday following Banks’ passing. The office re-opened, and Livingston said it will close at noon Friday to allow employees to attend Banks’ visitation that afternoon.
Banks’ public visitation is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Friday at Century Hairston Funeral Home’s Long Street location, followed by a 6-8 p.m. family visitation at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church on Highway 389.
Her funeral will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the church.
Banks, 58, was the first African-American elected to a countywide office in Oktibbeha County. She had served as chancery clerk since 1996 and won re-election last year after her opponent moved away from the county.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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