BLEDSOE COUNTY CLERK CANDIDATES INTERVIEWS
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GENESE ANGEL SAPP
Q: What services are currently offered at the County Clerk’s office?
A: Well, there’s a lot of services that are mandatory in the county clerk’s office. The biggest one is the motor vehicles. We issue title applicant. We do the title applications, we sell the plates, we do the renewals. Tennessee offers over 100 plates. So you have stipulations to get some, you have to be members of fire departments, rescue squad, emergency. We have to check a list for that. We’ve had issues with the titles coming through that’s fraudulent, and we have to watch for those. And then, of course, we have the people that the state processes everything, and we’ve got law regulations, we have to follow, and they had a problem with title jumping – open titles, so to speak. So we have to watch that. We collect the sales tax on these purchases of the boats, and we process the boat registrations, and we collect the sales tax on the boats, and the automobiles. I also do the beer permits, applications, and then do the follow up on issuing their beer permit and the renewals every year. We do business license. We do the marriage license, we sell hunting and fishing license, notary applications, short term rentals, like for the Airbnb. I have to keep on file, all the financial reports of our nonprofit organizations. And I give oaths of office to the new hires, so to speak. Everything we do is, like I said, regulated by the state and I’m always checked on top of that. I have the road petitions for the highway department, for people to add or delete a road, and they pick up those petitions from me, and then they return it, and I send it out to the highway committee and to the highway supervisor, and they would go out and check the roads, and then go before the commission, whether to add that road. I do pawnbroker license. There’s a numerous things that’s required by the state to do.
Q: What hours and days would you operate your office?
A: Well, we do Monday through Friday, 8 to 4, and on Thursdays, 8 to 12. That is the uniform for the courthouse. I stay over hours. I come in early, and, you know, they change the whole hours. The courthouse uniform, I’ll do whatever needs to be. ‘Cause I’m always available. I have to come in the way hours of the morning, and after 10:00 at night for people. So, even though it says office hours 8 to 4, Monday through Friday, Thursday, 8 to 12, I’m always available.
Q: Would you pursue being able to renew, update, issue Real IDs for drivers license?
A: I have pursued it. And the state, in fact, in 1994, the clerk prior to me, Ms. Carolyn Terry, when Governor Bredesen stopped the roving examiners coming to our county, the state offered it for the clerk’s office to start doing all these drivers’ license. Not the actual test, but the renew and updates. And they came, said we did not have enough space or staff. So in 2018, when I become clerk, the state had the kiosks available. They cannot do a Real ID, but they can renew and update your driver’s license. And they come to the office. I signed up for it in 2018, and they finally got back and came into the office in 2024 and measured, and was gonna install it. And I still no space, the staff would be not an issue, but the space is the issue. So I tried to get it in the hallway at the courthouse and spoke with the mayor, Mr. Ridley, and he and I got together, and he said we can put it in a county building, and the one that was available. He contacted our Sheriff Morris, and he gladly accepted it over there, so we had the kiosk in the county that will do that. And the only way I guess to start doing the other is getting more office space and more staff. ‘Cause that would be the hands on, not the kiosk. That would be the actual person doing it.
Q: Would you offer passport issuance services through the office?
A: I actually have the applications, the actual services I’ve not done. The state makes provisions for other areas to do that, because it’s not a requirement at the clerk’s office, you can have post offices, do that, circuit court clerk, and our county used to do it, but I’ll be glad to check into it and see. I have the applications, and just go from that. I’ve not had a lot of interest in that throughout the years, but, you know, if it’s a need, I’ll be glad to look into that and see what it entails prior to having the application on hand.
Q: What is your main objective/reason for seeking the office of County Clerk?
A: This is my life. I have done this, since full time, for 40 years. Prior to that, at the age of 14, I started working in there on a summer program and was blessed to do it after school and in the summers. I just love the people of Bledsoe. I’ve got the knowledge, the experience, and I love helping people, and they’re just family to me. And I would love to have four more years to do this.
DAWN SINGLETON
Q: What services are currently offered at the County Clerk’s office?
A: Of course, I’m getting your tags, getting those renewed. You have lost tags and, you know, being able to get those looked up and get some tags for lost vehicles, marriage certificates.
Q: What hours and days would you operate your office?
A: I know they work Monday through Friday. I would like to, or I would be open to have the opportunity to have Saturday hours of operation as well.
Q: Would you pursue being able to renew, update, issue Real IDs for drivers license?
A: Yes, ma’am.
Q: How would you make that happen?
A: I guess we would have to go through the State to get permission to do that, but I’m definitely open to doing that.
Q: Would you offer passport issuance services through the office?
A: Yeah, definitely. I think that’s something that Bledsoe County definitely needs, because we can go to our neighboring counties and get those as well. So I think that would definitely be a blessing for our county to be able to do that, so our residents don’t have to travel to a neighboring county to get that.
Q: What is your main objective/reason for seeking the office of County Clerk?
A: Just to make sure that our residents are treated with respect, and to be a servant later to our residents here so that they don’t have to travel to neighboring counties to get their business done. To make sure that it is all done here in our county.
ROBIN TABOR TERRY
Q: What services are currently offered at the County Clerk’s office?
A: Right now, you can update your tags, you can register your vehicle, update your tags. You can register your ATVs and golf carts, get marriage license and hunting license, there too.
Q: What hours and days would you operate your office?
A: I would do regular courthouse hours Monday through Friday, but I’d like to open up on Saturdays, the second Saturday of every month, and if that goes well, I’d like to continue that and open another Saturday.
Q: Would you pursue being able to renew, update, issue Real IDs for drivers license?
A: Yes, that’s what I want to do, uh, updated, uh, driver license. Uh, hopefully the state will allow me to do the real IDs. If allowed, I definitely want to pursue that. It is a software that is loaded into the preexisting computers that is free from the state.
Q: Would you offer passport issuance services through the office?
A: Yes. Our citizens need that. Okay. And finally, it’s real simple.
Q: What is your main objective/reason for seeking the office of County Clerk?
A: I believe the citizens need more services to gain more revenue. And I want to serve Bledsoe County citizens.
