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Joe P. Asher

Staff Writer

With voters having completed their civic duty at the polls on Tuesday, longtime incumbent Paul Williams-D has retained his position as the Harlan Circuit Court Clerk.

Williams faced opposition for the office from Joyce Heck-R, a former employee of the Harlan Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. Heck spent 20 years as deputy clerk. When all the precincts were in and the votes counted, Williams stood the winner with 6,876 votes with Heck garnering 3,427 votes.

Williams noted there have been some changes during his nearly four decades in office.

“When I started out the magistrates were the ones that did all the law,” said Williams. “They did all the criminal, traffic tickets and all that. Then we had the circuit court, and that was all different. When it changed and they put the district court in they had one judge. That was a big change.”

Williams said he has no plans to change the way things are being done.

“I think I run the office pretty good. I don’t see any changes. You’ll still get waited on the best we can,” said Williams.

A lifetime resident of Harlan County, Williams was born and raised in Evarts. He is a graduate of Evarts High School and the University of Kentucky.

Williams has also served as president of the Kentucky Circuit Court Clerk’s Association and spent four years in the United States Air Force.

In other election results, Harlan voters overwhelmingly approved a Kentucky Constitutional Amendment intended to protect the right to hunt and fish.

The amendment guarantees the the citizens of Kentucky have the personal right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife. The amendment states these activities will be subject to laws and regulations designed to promote conservation and preserve the future of hunting and fishing. The amendment also guarantees hunting and fishing will be the preferred method of controlling and managing wildlife in Kentucky.

The amendment passed in Harlan with a vote of 7,974 in favor of the amendment to 840 votes opposed.

Reach Joe P. Asher at 606-573-4510 or jasher@heartlandpublications.com