Petition circulating to recall Greene Co. Circuit Court Clerk

GREENE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - People in Greene County are saying they haven’t seen the Circuit Court Clerk at work in months. Now, there is a petition to have the clerk, Susan Duckworth, recalled.

This comes after claims they can’t get what they need from the Clerk’s Office.

Duckworth was elected Circuit Court Clerk in 2019. A state audit later identified a list of 10 issues, which included a lack of leadership at the office.

NBC29 has been reaching out to Duckworth with emails, phone calls, and attempts to track her down at work.

Geoff Duckworth provided a statement on behalf of Susan Duckworth Wednesday, August 10:

“On behalf of Susan Elizabeth Duckworth, current Circuit Court Clerk of Greene County Virginia. First, Ms. Duckworth has faithfully and earnestly worked in service to the citizens and administration of the County of Greene for almost two decades, serving as a deputy court clerk, then progressing to the Chief Deputy Clerk, and now, as the elected Constitutional Officer, Clerk of the Circuit Court. Some citizens may be aware, but many may not, that Ms. Duckworth has been struggling with severe and serious health issues that began in 2020 and have gotten progressively worse; in addition to suffering an extreme and intense personal tragedy just prior to her health issues. While contending with these issues Ms. Duckworth has done everything in her power to continue serving the residents of Greene County to the best of her current ability. Ms. Duckworth wants to extend her thanks and gratitude to the citizens of Greene County for their support, patience, prayers, and well wishes while she recovers and she looks forward to returning to full Clerk duties in the near future.”

Now, some in the county are taking her absence into their own hands.

“The reason that we’re taking this petition forward is after the audit came out, we felt that it was something that we needed to do as citizens of this county,” Gwen Baker said.

Baker helped to start the recall petition.

“From real estate professionals that can’t get things done for real estate transactions to people that are trying to deal with closing information on their loved ones that have passed away, There’s a lot of things that the Clerk of the Court does that is not getting done,” Baker said. “When those duties aren’t getting done that affects all of us.”

The petition needs at least 638 signatures. Baker says they currently have around 400 with roughly 170 verified with the Registrar’s Office.

RELATED: Audit focuses on Greene Co. Circuit Court clerk

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