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| History of the Office of Clerk-Treasurer Town of Highland was incorporated April 4, 1910. Andrew Reiner presented the petition requesting incorporation in February of that year to the Lake County Commissioners. Incorporation being granted, the first election was held for the first officials, with Highland then conducting regular elections in the usual cycle in 1911. At the time of Highland’s incorporation, Indiana law provided for separately elected Town Clerks and Town Treasurers. This was the law until 1935. Town Clerk & Town Treasurer: 1910-1911 H.S. Daugherty, Clerk (1st Clerk) John Lynch, Treasurer (1st Treasurer) 1912-1915 H.S. Daugherty, Clerk John Lynch, Treasurer 1916-1919 H.S. Daugherty, Clerk Richard Hook, Treasurer (2nd Treasurer) 1920-1923 J.G. Eriks, Clerk (2nd Clerk) D. Moes, Treasurer (3rd Treasurer) 1924-1927 J.G. Eriks, Clerk Nick Porter, Treasurer (4th Treasurer) 1928-1931 John Groot, Clerk (3rd Clerk) Otto M. Schmidt, Treasurer (5th Treasurer) 1932-1935 Bartel Zandstra, Clerk (4th and last Town Clerk) Harold Douthet, Treasurer (6th Treasurer) In 1935, the Indiana Legislature abolished the separate offices of clerk and treasurer and combined them into the successor office, Clerk-Treasurer. Terms are for four years, beginning on January 1st at Noon and concluding before noon, on January 1st four years following. Town Clerk-Treasurer: 1936-1943 (1st Clerk-Treasurer) Bartel Zandstra (replaced on 7/20/43 mid-term owing his US Army service by) Rose Langley (2nd Clerk-Treasurer) 1943-1952 Rose Langley (On 7/20/48 Ms. Langley married) Rose Langley-Merrick (replaced on 09/16/48 in mid-term by) John Blom (3rd Clerk-Treasurer) 1952-1956 (4th Clerk-Treasurer) Kenneth Dickinson 1956-1980 (5th Clerk-Treasurer) Irene Ketchum (D) 1980-1992 (6th Clerk-Treasurer) Paul L. Doherty (D) 1992 to present (7th Clerk-Treasurer) Michael W. Griffin (D) Origins of the Office The office of the municipal clerk traces its origins to the period before Bible times. Indeed, a detailed history as provided by International Institute is provided. Some important highlight to review in its overview: • Town Remembrancer “Mazkir Ha’ir” in Hebrew is the term used for Town Clerk. •Title “clerk” is derived from the Latin “Clericus”. It is how the current title clergy is derived as well and represented from the middle ages those who were considered learned or scholarly owing to the ability to read, write and serve as a recording official. • City Clerk for Old England was established 1272 A.D. • Clerk Comptroller of the King’s Household is 1500’s History in United States and in Indiana In addition to its history, in Indiana the once separate municipal offices of Town Clerk and Town treasurer were combined into the single office of Clerk-Treasurer in 1935, by act of the Indiana General Assembly. This made the office similar to that which cities (now of the third class) have. The unique formulation of clerk-treasurer which combines the office of secretariat of the municipal corporation and the legislative body along with the offices of fiscal, disbursing and investing officer of the corporation could be argued to be uniquely American with roots from Great Britain. The British roots are obviously evolved from those New England Colonies that established town clerks in their early municipal governments. Also, the formulation of clerk-treasurer could be said to have its antecedents in the Clerk Comptroller of the King’s Household, mentioned earlier , and the Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer whose office was established following the developments of the Magna Carta, which provided for the first time a reversal from the Feudal system of paying dues for the protection of the realm to a system of taxes which allowed for consultation with the taxpayers prior to taxing. Chancellor of the Exchequer is the equivalent of the budget officer for government and the title of chancellor suggests the proximity to the executive as well as some of the administrative duties familiar to clerks. The American nature of the clerk-treasurer’s work as manager of appropriations is very much an out growth of the early debate between Jefferson and Hamilton regarding whether the spending authority was properly the province of the Legislative Branch or the Executive. As we know, the notion that no spending may be made except upon appropriation by the legislative body is a seminal idea that effects American government from the National to the municipal level. At the local level, the clerk-treasurer is steward of the appropriations decisions made by the local legislative body. In fact, the laws for city and towns expressly prohibit the clerk-treasurer from paying out from the local treasury except upon allowance of the proper board of jurisdiction and those boards of jurisdiction may not spend unless the monies have been appropriated by the legislative body. In summary, the clerk-treasurer embodies the following functions: Finance Administration: receive and care for all monies cash management internal audit investment fee collection budget officer revenue forecasting Municipal Secretariat Archivist for records keeper of the municipal seal clerk of the legislative body acknowledging official journal clerk reading clerk officer of the municipality as its corporate secretary and corporate treasurer |
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