>> SUPERIOR COURT CLERK
The two top officials of Baldwin County Superior Court remain out of the office – and one is not returning – but a veteran court clerk has been filling in nicely for the past month.
Superior Court Clerk Mitch Longino and now former chief deputy clerk Kimberly Brown have not been working in the office since early March.
There were some allegations of possible criminal wrongdoing and a formal investigation requested by Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale. No results of that investigation have been released as yet, and it has not been publicly said by any official that the absence of either Longino or Brown is related to the allegations.
In the meantime, Cinda Bright, who retired Dec. 31, 2022, after 42 years of service as Wilkinson County’s Superior Court Clerk, has been working in the office since March 14.
“Mitch called me and asked me would I be interested in coming in and helping out.
We didn’t talk about a particular length of time,” she said, noting that criminal court work is her main focus. “Filing indictments, accusations, transmitting dispositions to GCIC, filing pleadings” and a host of other duties are required in the criminal area alone.
“And,” she noted, “you have a criminal court week here about every month; you’ve got jurors coming in all the time.”
Bright, whose late husband Fred Bright was a long-time district attorney in the circuit, would not elaborate on her hours of work.
“I work. There are long days,” she would only say, citing as an example last week’s jury trial that ended last Thursday night.
As is customary in the Ocmulgee circuit, Bright, representing the clerk’s office, published – read aloud – the jury’s verdict then. “In the court world, the days vary.”
The retired clerk said there is a similarity but at the same time a lot of difference between her past life and this job.
“Same thing I’ve done for 42 years, just a bigger volume,” she reflected. “Wilkinson County had about 10,000 people, I had three full-time employees. Baldwin has, what, 50,000 people, and they have seven full-time employees.” And, she added quickly, “These ladies work hard. They work very hard.”
Bright confirmed that Brown would not be returning to her position as deputy criminal clerk and the county was to advertise for a new hire. She also said there is a new chief deputy.
“At this point, the chief deputy, Angie Ramage, is in charge (of the office) I would say,” Bright said. “Mitch has appointed her since he’s been out of the office.”
The process of replacing Brown will determine when Bright leaves, but that won’t happen overnight, she said.
“Once Mitch hires someone as the criminal court clerk, and we can get them trained, it will probably take a little while, depending on their background. If they had a background with law enforcement would be an asset,” she said, adding that candidates with similar experience could come from other courthouse offices. “Anyone with that kind of background.”
Bright would not speculate when Longino would resume his duties but did say she believed it would be soon.
When asked what her experience in the clerk’s office of another county has been like, Bright was very positive.
“I’m here to do a job,” she said. “It’s been fun working with the ladies. It’s been fun reconnecting with everybody. They’re like, ‘hey, what are you doing here?’ It’s been fun.”