As election season is rapidly approaching, I realized that there probably wasn't going to be time for me to write the big, comprehensive reviews of candidates like I did in 2008 and in the primaries of this year. I'll put something out eventually, I'm sure. I may even focus on some races in particular, but I just don't have time to write the voluminous stuff I've written in the past for
every race.
But, I did want to write something semi-voluminous about the Race for District Clerk, because it is a position that affects both lawyers and citizens across the board.
And for the past year or so, District Clerk Loren Jackson has been doing a freaking amazing job as District Clerk.
Prior to Loren Jackson taking over the Office, you probably would have been fairly hard pressed to come up with the name of the District Clerk of Harris County. Now, Jackson's name is one of the most recognizable for a Public Servant in Harris County.
And with good reason.
Jackson took the helm of the Clerk's office and has taken it into the 21st Century. His efforts to streamline public records in an easily accessible manner on the Internet has been nothing short of monumental.
And he's achieved the goals he set forth.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys marvel at what Loren Jackson has done with the District Clerk's office. As you can imagine, in the legal world, needing documents and records is an extremely frequent occurrence. Getting those documents used to be like pulling teeth. You would have to go to your computer and search for a case number associated with the name you were looking for (and Lord help you if you didn't have the exact right name and spelling during your search). You would have to find the volume and page of where the records could be found. You had to put in a written request to the clerk of your court for those records.
And then you would have to wait for several days for the clerk to pull that information up for you and certify it.
It was not a good system, but at the time, there was nothing better.
Loren Jackson now has alleviated the workload on his clerks by giving attorneys the ability to search for the information online without the assistance of a clerk, and we can now print out copies of those court documents on our own printers in our own offices immediately.
That may seem like a small thing to some people, but it is literally saving hours, days, and weeks worth of legwork that were so commonplace just five or ten years ago. The work he's done to improve his office has been nothing short of Monumental.
In addition to the technology side of what he's done for the Office, he's also brought a level of enthusiasm to his job that makes it so much more than just an elected spot for somebody to hold onto before running for County Commissioner or something. He goes and greets both the morning and the afternoon jury panels that come over daily.
I've never even met Loren Jackson, but I'm a tremendous fan of all that he has done for that office. It is (and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) absolutely amazing.
Loren Jackson is such an amazing District Clerk that anybody who would want to run against him is actually doing the public a very large disservice.
But, of course, somebody is running against him.
Because Loren Jackson is a Democrat, the Republicans have found a candidate to run against him named Chris Daniel.
And where they got this guy, I'm not real sure. Based on his campaign website, it just appears that his major credentials are being very adept at having his picture taken with famous politicians. I used to want to have my picture with famous NFL athletes when I was a teenager -- and they still didn't let me play in the NFL.
It is also very transparent from Mr. Daniel's resume that he is just looking to use the District Clerk's position as a springboard to higher office.
I've got a big issue with that -- especially since Loren Jackson is kicking butt and taking names with how well he is doing with the Office now.
Only a die-hard Republican who was completely unfamiliar with the job Jackson is doing would think of voting against him.
Voting for anyone other than Loren Jackson for District Clerk of Harris County would not only be foolish, it would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Please tell your Republican family and friends who vote in Harris County to stay away from the straight-ticket vote, and actually pay enough attention to the ballot to vote for the far-and-away best candidate for the job.
Get the word out.
For more input on the Race for District Clerk, check out the Houston Chronicle's article here and Mark Bennett's post on it here.
