>> BALDWIN COUNTY
A key position in the Baldwin County Superior Court Clerk’s office has been vacant for nearly two months but will soon be filled, according to the office’s new top assistant.
Angie Ramage, who was promoted to Chief Deputy Clerk in early April, said on Monday that an applicant was offered the criminal court clerk job and accepted, with a May 15 start date.
Ramage, who has been with the department for 15 years, was named top assistant clerk April 8, by Superior Court Clerk Mitch Longino, who has been on a leave of absence for nearly two months for undisclosed reasons. Ramage said she didn’t know when Longino might return.
Previous criminal court clerk Kimberly Brown, who also was the chief deputy clerk, tendered her resignation to Longino in a March 10 letter. Her resignation and Longino’s leave of absence came just days after allegations of possible wrongdoing in the office surfaced, though no one has said publicly that either’s absence is related to those allegations.
An investigation by the GBI’s Office of Special Investigations began in early March, but no details of any findings have been released yet.
Cinda Bright, a retired superior court clerk in Wilkinson County, was contacted by Longino and asked to help out in the Baldwin office and has been doing so since mid-March. She said two weeks ago that how long she stayed would depend at least in part on how long it took to hire and train a replacement for Brown.
That could be coming soon, Ramage confirmed.
“We interviewed the one we had interviewed previously for another job,” she said. “She is more qualified for the opening we have now, so we called her. She fits the qualifications. She’s real good … she does have criminal experience.”
The new chief deputy said Longino was aware of the planned new hire.
“He had interviewed her for the other position. So, yes, he has approved it,” she said.
Ramage suggested, however, that although the new employee will be a welcome addition, it isn’t enough.
“We are in desperate need of more employees,” she said. “We are so busy. We are doing our best to accommodate the public for what they need, but could it improve? I think so. I mean, with more people in the office to help us.
“Everybody’s doing their job,” she continued. “But when you get stopped 10-15 times … we just need more people.”
There are slots for eight employees now, and the office serves superior, juvenile, and state courts. Ramage confirmed she had been interviewed by the state investigators regarding the allegations but offered nothing further.
“I haven’t heard anything,” she said about the possible findings of the agency.
Ramage said she feels her job as chief deputy clerk is one of oversight.
“I help oversee the office, the overall operations. I just help the other side more. I go see if they need anything,” she explained.
“Plus, I still do my job.”