Two months to the day when voter will go the polls and elect their republican and democrat nominees in the General Sessions Court Clerks race, republican candidate Rick Rout outlined his first steps he will take when elected as the republican nominee and next General Sessions Court Clerk. ‘I believe in transparent government, and today I want the citizens of Shelby County to know what we will do as their next General Sessions Court Clerk.

September 1, 2012, the day the peoples administration takes the oath of office, we will request a thorough and detailed audit of the entire office. We have to first know where we are as an office to formulate the correct plan of action to get where we want to be in the shortest amount of time. We will put together a competent, knowledgeable, experienced and efficient staff that will start work the first day returning the honesty, integrity and accountability back to the General Sessions Court Clerk’s office. We will begin the process of balancing the budget. This office has run a deficit for three straight years and will again for a fourth. The General Sessions Court Clerk’s office will once again become a revenue producing office within Shelby County Government.

My pledge to you today, to the taxpayers of Shelby County, is we will return the office of the General Sessions Court Clerk back to a revenue producing office; Restore the honesty, integrity, and accountability back to this office and, create a more user friendly environment for our citizens that need to use our services.