Judges on the Macomb County Circuit Court bench met Monday and selected longtime county employee Kathy Smith to serve as interim County Clerk/Register of Deeds.
Smith succeeds Kathy Browers, who had been appointed acting clerk in late March after Karen Spranger was ousted from the job to which she had been elected in November 2016.
A judge earlier determined that Spranger, who had been embroiled in controversy almost since her election, lied about her residency when she filed to become a candidate.
Brower requested that her name by withdrawn from consideration on May 4.
“Although I am honored to have been trusted with the temporary assignment, it was supposed to be just that, a two-week temporary assignment,” she said.
Brower indicated she would “continue to assist in any way needed to make this a smooth transition.”
Monday’s vote by the judges was 11-0.
Smith worked for the county clerk’s office from 1984 to early 2012, holding positions such a typist clerk, computer maintenance clerk and judicial court clerk.
She then moved on to work as a judicial secretary.
Smith is not among the 17 people seeking the job in the November election.
The deadline to file as a candidate was Friday, April 27.
“My experience with the departments and employees of the clerk’s office and Register of Deeds makes me uniquely qualified to get these offices running efficiently,” Smith said.
“I am thrilled that the judges have confidence in my abilities,” she said, “and I look forward to the opportunity to work with the awesome employees of the Clerk’s Office and the Register of Deeds.”
Chief Judge James M. Biernat, Jr. said Brower “did an outstanding job as acting county clerk while the appointment process was playing out.
“I believe that Kathy Smith will step into this role seamlessly,” he said.
He said Smith “brings tremendous experience to this new role, and I am very pleased that the judges have decided to retain a dedicated, long-term county employee in this role.”
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