Jackson Free Press

Zack Wallace has never held elected political office, but he has the power of incumbency on his side. At age 38, Wallace has been working as a deputy Hinds County circuit clerk since he was a 20-year-old student at Millsaps College studying computer science.

Since graduating in 1998, Wallace has remained in the clerk's office and has worked his way up to office manager, supervising circuit clerk's offices in both county seats—Jackson and Raymond—and serving as a top deputy to the long-tenured outgoing Circuit Clerk 
Barbara Dunn.

The circuit clerk's office maintains records for civil lawsuits involving more than $35,000, criminal cases, marriage licenses, and voter and candidate registration. So Wallace, whose first name is Zacchaeus, says he knows a thing or two about the importance of getting things right.

"Even though I write Zacchaeus, I tell people my name is Zacchaeus. They say Zachariah, Zachary, Zucchini —some of everything," he jokes.

Wallace and his wife, Kedra, have two sons named Zacchaeus, 13, and Nathaniel, 6, and live in south Jackson. He recently spoke to the Jackson Free Press about why he's running for Hinds County circuit clerk.

Why did you want this job?

I care about the court system. I care about the county. Not too many people understand the court system and how it works. They've seen a lot of TV—a court session that lasts 30 minutes or an hour. It's not like that. Every chance I get, I get people to come down the office and maybe pull a file and read it, maybe go upstairs and sit in a courtroom or introduce them to an attorney.

What are your plans for the clerk's office if elected?

I want to redefine the office as being a public office. ... When you come down to the clerk's office, you're either mad about a situation or you're happy about a situation. I want to put the focus back on the public, make the office a little more effective and let people know we're here to serve them. We also deal with marriage licenses and voter registrations, so I want them to know when they get ready to file something in court, it's going in the proper place.

Speaking of making the office more accessible to the public, it's a $1 a page to make copies. That's expensive for regular people. Do you plan to continue that?

With our civil records, we are e-filing now so everything is paperless with civil (filings). I'm involved with implementing the criminal side ... so hopefully by the end of the year, we'll be paperless. ... You'll have to come to our office to our public terminals, and you'll be able to do research—civil and criminal—but if you want to print out something, it's going to be $1 per page right now.

So the $1 isn't going anywhere?

No, the $1 is not going anywhere.

How is the e-filing going? It seems like implementation went a little slower in Hinds County than originally planned.

People don't realize how much paperwork we have. I don't think the office and the people who were training us were prepared for it. I feel like Hinds County needs a customized system.

The knock on the Hinds County circuit clerk's office has always been that it's disorganized. The Jackson Free Press did a story a while ago about records threatened with water damage. What do you think about that perception, and what would you do about it?

I would definitely say that's inaccurate. I think a lot of people don't realize the volume of paperwork that comes through that office, Hinds County being the biggest county in the state. I think right now, on a county level, we get maybe over 2,000 lawsuits every year. Now that we're going paperless, maybe that'll cut back on things. We definitely need extra storage, and we definitely need to work with other departments in the county. We have plenty rooms, but they are full of boxes. By law, some boxes we can't get rid of. So storage, I'm not going to say it's a problem, but it's a question.

So what are the options (for getting more storage) as you see them?

The board of supervisors has someone come around, looking at our storage and looking at our water damage. The question I ask myself is: How are we getting water damage in the basement, and that building has a fifth floor?

What would you be your top budgeting priority?

I would say storage that's accessible from day-to-day. At one point, there was talk of having a centralized location, library-like, and I think that would be great.

What are some things you could do to improve the office that wouldn't need more money?

(Continue) to go paperless, and as soon as we get things in the system, I would try to get rid of it either through recycling or work with the (Mississippi) Department of Archives and History.

Barbara Dunn has been there a long time and presumably has a lot of institutional knowledge in her head. Are you worried about maintaining continuity after she's gone?

I've been there 18 years, and wherever I go people ask me about the office. ... So I'm not concerned at all. I depended on my parents a lot, but when it was time for me to move out, I was up to it. And me being with Mrs. Dunn for 18 years, I think I'm ready to fly by myself.

What have you learned about life in Hinds County in your 18 years in the clerk's office?

There's a lot of confusion about how the (county) offices work together. The circuit clerk deals with marriage licenses; chancery court deals with divorces. The sheriff's office deal with sentencing orders; we deal with filing the sentencing orders so if something's not keyed in properly, that's on us and could affect the sheriff's department.

Also, some people may come in with an attitude—this person sued me. I feel like it's my job to give them everything they need and give them some kind of peace of mind.

Are you usually successful in diffusing those situations?

No, I've realized that you can't please everyone.

The clerk's office can be a flashpoint of controversy sometimes. How do you feel about managing that pressure?

I don't feel pressure with that. With me asking for this position, things come with the job. I feel like, (after) being a public servant this long, shouldn't nothin' make mad.

See jfp.ms/2015elections for future candidate interviews.