Lebanon County Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts Barbara A. Smith announced that she would be seeking re-election to the position to which she was first appointed in 2014.
Smith won her first election in 2015, when she staved off a write-in opponent.
In the re-election announcement, Smith credited her staff with supporting her while making significant changes to the Protohnotary and Clerk of Courts Offices.
“As an office holder, I am still learning the individual responsibilities of my staff and there is much more to learn,” she said in the release. “I credit them with the success of getting the job well done in a timely and accurate manner.”
One of the significant changes she made was the purchase of a camera enabling the office to provide passport photos on-site for passport applications.
Another big change was the physical reorganization of the office and vault, in which outdated files were disposed and historical records were preserved and relocated in conjunction with Lebanon County Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission. LCHS ended up taking some of these records as a gift approved by the County Commissioners.
(If you’re curious, Smith says the records the LCHS took were: Jury lists; Election Dockets; Veterinarians, Dentists, Medical and Physicians Registers, Osteopathic Records; Common Pleas Docket, 5/1787 to 4/1822; and Appearance Dockets, 6 volumes, 1813 to 1831.)
Smith lives in South Londonddery Township and is a member of the Community Bible Church. Prior to being appointed Clerk of Courts, she served as Jury Commission of Lebanon County, a position that was eliminated by the County Commissioners in 2013.