Candidates running for the Republican spot on the November ballot for Greene County Circuit Clerk are Shannon Peirce and incumbent Bryan Feemster.
This interview and others for the August 4 Primary Election were coordinated and carried out by the Informed Voter Coalition. Members of the coalition are: Be Civil, Be Heard, Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship, Ozarks Public Broadcasting, Leadership Springfield, League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, Missouri State University, NAACP Springfield, Ozarks Technical Community College’s Social Sciences Department, Rosie, Show Me Christian County, Springfield Business Journal, Springfield-Greene County Library District and Springfield News-Leader.
Candidates were asked the same questions developed by the Informed Voter Coalition and given the same amount of time to respond. Candidates were not given the questions in advance, and the order of candidate interviews was determined by random drawing.
Dr. Suzanne Walker-Pacheco, a professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Missouri State University asked the questions.
Shannon Peirce
Walker-Pacheco: Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this office. You have one minute.
Peirce: Well, once again, my name is Shannon Peirce. I am happily married for over 20 years. My wife and I have six wonderful kids, five of which that we've adopted, and we've fostered kids for many years. And the reason that I'm running for this position is I was contacted by family law attorneys to make a change in the office due to frustrations they are having with the current circuit clerk. So, making those changes is my goal. That's my dedication. I have over 24 years of serving the public in law enforcement and doing that as an instructor. I have managed multiple staffs, and I'm dedicated to making those changes that need to happen.
Walker-Pacheco: Many people who visit the circuit clerk's office are navigating the court system during stressful or difficult circumstances. How would you ensure that staff treat all members of the public, regardless of their case or circumstances, with dignity, respect and equal access to the judicial system?
Peirce: Well, it all comes down to that forward facing person, that person that's at that counter that's going to be the first individual that the public has contact with and making sure that those individuals are relaying the same information across the board for everybody that's working that public facing counter. We all have rough days, but those bad days shouldn't be placed upon those citizens of Greene County coming in to get those necessary documents or get those questions answered about case filings, judgments, items like that. So, it all goes back to training, making sure that — easy way to put it — everybody's saying the same script. Everybody understands what that script means. So, that training from beginning to end, and that includes management, assistant managers, even myself as the elected circuit clerk, making sure that those items are thoroughly understood and what we can say, what we can't say, what we can provide, what we can't provide, but making sure that there's a clear understanding of what their role is to the citizens of Greene County and how they better serve them by understanding what they can say and what their job is.
Walker-Pacheco: The circuit clerk's office handles the collection and disbursement of court fees, fines and other funds. What financial controls and accountability practices would you put in place to ensure proper stewardship of public money?
Peirce: Well, once again, it comes down to training and reviewing the current documentation to make sure it is following those state guidelines and those OSCA (Office of State Courts Administrator) guidelines. We want to ensure to the people of Greene County that these funds are being dispersed properly, quickly and make sure that everything is transparent. I'm a very transparent person, and transparency is what is needed in the circuit clerk's office. Those funds going out, once again, beginning to end, there needs to be check marks. So, if I am disbursing a fund, then it is checked off by somebody behind me, and we do a third check and a fourth check to make sure it is notarized all the way down, that the process was done correctly, that everything balances at that end of that day, that end of that month, that end of that year, because we're accountable for all of that. I know based upon material that was sent into the (Springfield) News-Leader, that there are some problems that haven't been resolved for over a year and a half because of disbursements of funds where people have waited. That could be child support. So, with that child support not being dispersed. For example, if my wife and I separated and I had to pay child support and there is a lapse in that process being completed and sent to the Child Support Division in Jefferson City, I may fall into default. And if I fall into default, that may cause me to lose my driver's license. Or I may have all of my, say, paycheck garnished to catch me up. So, we need to get matters like that resolved because everything needs to be done in a timely manner, in a timely basis.
Walker-Pacheco: The circuit clerk is an elected partisan office, but the work of the clerk must be impartial and serve everyone equally — defendants, victims, attorneys, judges and the general public. How do you ensure that your political affiliations or personal views never influence how the office is administered?
Peirce: Well, it's stepping into the role and having a clear understanding of what that role does for the citizens of Greene County as that elected official. As I mentioned previously, the letter that was sent into the News-Leader concerning items that have not been resolved and have sat there and festered for a year and a half, those items not being resolved have greatly affected the citizens of Greene County. So, we have where items such as cases are not being resolved in a timely manner or processed in a timely manner. I've had family law attorneys reach out to me concerning simple divorces that take seven weeks to even get processed and assign an OSCA number. Once again, I brought up child support, so delays in child support being processed. So, making sure the staff has a clear understanding of what their role is within the circuit clerk. Once again, it all comes down to a training aspect, a management aspect and tracking that material. So, I'm a firm believer of stepping in and knowing the role with that material, that clerk that is processing those judgments, that is setting those cases — I should know how to do that job plain and simple. Stepping in, and the reason for that is, if I needed to give them an evaluation of their job, I should know how to do that job. So, making sure, running reports daily, seeing what the cues are, making sure that those items are processed. We can't have cases sit there for seven weeks and not get processed. That's not fair to the citizens of Greene County. And we really look at that as a lapse or it could cause actually judicial system, your judges, your commissioners, the circuit court itself, that office to be sued because of constitutional violations, and we don't want that to happen.
Walker-Pacheco: Jury administration is a key function of the circuit clerk's office. How would you ensure that the jury pool fairly reflects the diversity of Greene County? And what would you do to make jury service more accessible and less burdensome for residents?
Peirce: Well, those summonses have gone out because I've been jury summoned multiple times. The summonses is going out, of course, have that contact phone number placed on them, and they can call in to see if they are selected for that pool. We want to make sure that we have a fair representation of the citizens of Greene County. And that way, when those juries are needed for specific cases, then those pools have that fair representation. So, that is going out and making sure that people understand, our citizens of Greene County, understand their process of why they got picked, what their role is as a jury member and how important it is for Greene County, how they can understand what the case is and what they may encounter from not only the prosecutor's side but the attorney side representing that individual and what type of questioning can occur. It's vitally important that the public understands what a jury member does and how their thought process, how their speech about a certain case can affect other people's judgments and making sure that we are impartial and that when we are making those judgments, it is for the fairness and the directness of that case.
Walker-Pacheco: That concludes our interview with Greene County Circuit Clerk candidate Shannon Peirce. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
Peirce: Thank you very much for your time. I greatly appreciate it.
Bryan Feemster (incumbent)
Walker-Pacheco: Would you please introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this position? You have one minute.
Feemster: Okay. Well, thank you. My name is, of course, Bryan Feemster. I'm the current circuit clerk here in Greene County. I grew up in Greene County. I'm a native here. I grew up on a dairy farm just north of town and had parents who taught me Christian values and taught me how to work hard as well. Later on, I went to college here at MSU, and I got a degree in agriculture, and later on in my career I got an MBA from Drury College. I worked at City Utilities, and I had jobs ranging from a mechanic operator to a supervisor manager, director of the plant and eventually director of Power Supply and Strategic Operations, so that has helped prepare me for the circuit clerk job, which we're going to talk about today.
Walker-Pacheco: Many people who visit the circuit clerk's office are navigating the court system during stressful or difficult circumstances. How would you ensure that staff treat all members of the public, regardless of their case or circumstances, with dignity, respect and equal access to the judicial system?
Feemster: Well, you're absolutely right. Most people are not there because they want to be there. They're there because they need to be there. And because of that, we stress being respectful to everyone, no exceptions, and especially whether they're coming to us in person or whether they're talking to us over the phone. And it doesn't just go for the people who are involved directly in the case but also attorneys, agencies that we work with, we're going to be respectful of everyone because we realize it's a tough time for them, and we do everything we can to just show as much patience as possible for them.
Walker-Pacheco: The circuit clerk's office handles the collection and disbursement of court fees, fines and other funds. What financial controls and accountability practices would you put in place to ensure proper stewardship of public money?
Feemster: So, we've got a financial system that's built on a statewide piece of software. So, all of our information goes into that system, and we've got a department that is dedicated to that, so it's very important that information be entered in a timely fashion and accurately. We have reports that we review on a regular basis to catch any anomalies. And if we do find one, we're going to correct it right off the bat. And in addition to all that, we've got the Greene County auditor, which actually looks at our books on a regular basis and assures that, okay, it's not just us looking at it, they're looking at it from outside and saying, this is okay. We also interface with the Office of State Courts Administrator, and we talk to their accounting department on a regular basis, and they've given us very good back, very good feedback about the accuracy of our records as well. And last year, incidentally, we handled over $30 million in transactions. So, it's a big operation, and it's a critical part of the case records that we're responsible for.
Walker-Pacheco: The circuit clerk is an elected partisan office, but the work of the clerk must be impartial and serve everyone equally — defendants, victims, attorneys, judges, and the general public. How do you ensure that your political affiliations or personal views never influence how the office is administered?
Feemster: That office is nonpartisan as far as I'm concerned, and we are going to treat everyone with respect, no matter who they are or what their background is, what they look like. It doesn't matter. Everyone deserves respect, period. There, once again, are no exceptions. So, the fact that I have a political affiliation has no impact on the way I treat people. We're going to treat them right. We're going to treat them the way we very much would like to be treated ourselves.
Walker-Pacheco: Jury administration is a key function of the circuit clerk's office. How would you ensure that the jury pool fairly reflects the diversity of Greene County? And what would you do to make jury service more accessible and less burdensome for residents?
Feemster: Well, the jury services is actually carried on by a small group of people that we have that report directly to the presiding judge in this county. And they are the ones responsible for all of those jury related activities. Their system, I believe, very fairly represents the area, and it's a random drawing with regards to who might be called next even though sometimes someone might feel like, wow, that was — I got called just recently, why am I being called again? But it definitely is being, I think, ran very, very well. And Holly Ryan happens to be the one that's in charge of that particular area and I believe does a great job of it.
Walker-Pacheco: That concludes our interview with candidate Bryan Feemster. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
Feemster: You're welcome.
The Informed Voter Coalition in 2019, partnering with other local, nonpartisan organizations in our community for a common purpose: to inform voters. Every election cycle since, these community partners have spearheaded and organized the coalition to provide you with candidate interviews.
This program was pre-recorded by Ozarks Public Broadcasting. No part of the audio or video may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission.
Brent Slane produced the videos for the candidate interviews.
