Alamance County’s board of commissioners officially dwindled to a four-member outfit on Wednesday when former commissioner Craig Turner gave up his post in order to assume a district court judgeship he won in this month’s election.
The identity of Turner’s successor will ultimately be nailed down on Saturday when the executive committee of Alamance County’s GOP convenes a special meeting to anoint a successor to the Republican judge in waiting.
In the meantime, another selection is in the offing to find a replacement for the county’s clerk of superior court Meredith Edwards.
Like Turner, Edwards was one of three local Republicans elevated to the district court bench when the county’s voters went to the polls on November 5. In this case, however, the appointment of Edwards’ successor is not the legal prerogative of the candidate’s party but of the county’s senior superior court judge – who as of earlier this fall has been Democrat Andy Hanford.
In an interview with The Alamance News, Hanford acknowledged that he has already begun the process of choosing a suitable replacement for the outgoing clerk of superior court.
“I’m currently receiving letters of interest and letters of recommendation from anyone who wants to submit them,” Hanford proceeded to elaborate on Wednesday. “I plan to make a decision within 30 days – and certainly by the end of the year so the court system can continue to function.”
Hanford said that he has already received three entries from aspiring clerks and intends to have someone selected by the time Edwards is formally installed on the district court bench in January.
