By Janine Davis Record Staff Writer Two Republican candidates are on the Aug. 5 primary ballot for Warren County circuit clerk. The candidates are John Cornell and incumbent Brenda Eggering, who is running for her second term. The winner will run uncontested in the November election and will take office in January for a four-year term. The candidates are featured in the order in which they will appear on the ballot. John Cornell Cornell has worked in Warren County law enforcement for 22 years — 10 of which were spent as a criminal investigator for the prosecuting attorney’s office. He is a graduate of the St. Charles County Law Enforcement Training Center, and in addition to earlier law enforcement jobs as patrol officer and supervisor in Warren County, he also was a detective for the sheriff’s department, as well as jail administrator. Born and raised in Warren County, Cornell also served a two-year stint as a Warrenotn Ward 1 alderman. “I’ve worked around and with the circuit clerk’s office for many years, so I have a good understanding of the workings of the office and how my strengths would fit in to bring improvements,” Cornell said. “I bring a diverse background with a different set of perspectives.” Cornell said he believes he offers leadership and accountability to the position if elected, and will work to advance a stronger service orientation within the office. He said it will be a priority to make staff feel valued and supported and to work as a team to set and accomplish goals. He pledges to manage the office to accomplish more within its current roster of clerks. “Criminal cases are down and the staff is very capable, so we don’t need to hire more people; we just need to help our clerks accomplish more through efficient processes and management,” said Cornell. He also said he does not believe county tax dollars should be used to supplement a state office, referring to a part-time position with benefits paid for by the county that is helping with the workload with the recent addition of a third judge . “Some counties do this, but 66 percent of counties in the state do not,” he said. “I will make sure we’re billing the state for reimbursement on a timely basis so the sheriff’s office has that money flowing into its budget,” he said, referring to a conflict that arose last year when corrections reimbursement paperwork to the state was jammed up. “It all comes down to leadership and utilizing management skills to accomplish more with existing resources,” said Cornell. Brenda Eggering Incumbent Brenda Eggering was elected in 2010, after serving as probate clerk and 30-plus years in the circuit clerk’s office. She has been an active member of the Missouri Professional Court Clerks Association, and also was raised in Warren County. Eggering oversees a staff of 10 civil and criminal clerks, and says she has achieved many of the goals she set for the office four years ago, including cross-training clerks to be able to step in to cover duties when another clerk is out due to illness or time off. “That wasn’t the case before I came into office, so you had situations where work was backlogged,” she said. Another challenge, Eggering said, has been to stay on top of modern technology. She cites the office’s transition this summer to e-filing as a paperless system in which all records now are online in a secure environment. “This system — Case.net — saves taxpayers’ money and makes it more efficient for our staff and the attorneys to access cases and for us to make sure everything is accurate before hearings and trials,” she said. “Attorneys can file online instead of having to come to the courthouse.” Eggering said the new state system saves on paper, postage and supplies, as well as manpower to manage files. Another accomplishment, Eggering said, is the installation of Polygram equipment, which enables court appearances by videoconferencing. “This was on my wish list from day one,” said Eggering. The system allows the Department of Corrections to have suspects and offenders appear before a judge from jail, prison or juvenile detention centers rather than transporting them to the courthouse, saving law enforcement manpower, transportation costs and local jailing. It also keeps the courthouse safer. Eggering says her goals going forward are to continue working closely and collaboratively with elected officials, to maintain a friendly office and to continue improving collections for defendant board billing for the sheriff’s department. She has increased state collections from probation cases, adding new revenue for the sheriff’s department. Local law enforcement receives $55 a day from the state for each day a prisoner is in jail or on probation. Fees for the people on probation had not been collected prior to her term, she said. Eggering said with the addition of another judge in January this year, her office is supposed to get another clerk. In the meantime, the county is funding a part-time position. “I’ve made significant improvements in the last four years and hope to keep working to make more in the years ahead.”
John Cornell, left; Brenda Eggering, right.
