AAC


BOARD PROFILE


legislative committee on bills that affected county clerks. Harrison is now prepared to step into a new role on the As- sociation of Arkansas Counties (AAC) Board of Directors this year. She will be one of two county clerks representing their peers from across the state. Te Arkansas Association of County Clerks board elected her in 2017. Harrison is eager to collaborate with her fellow board members. “As county clerk, I have always been able to call on AAC for


support and help when needed,” she said. “I look forward to serv- ing and networking with fellow County Clerk Rhonda Cole and all the wonderful elected officials from the various associations. I believe AAC is an amazing support system for the counties, and I am very excited to be a part of it. Tis is just another way I can be a voice for the people.” Harrison is a native of Polk County. She graduated from Acorn


High School in 1988 and attended community college in Mena for a couple of years before going to work in the county clerk’s office in 1994. She worked for former County Clerk Pat Meyers, who Har- rison considers a “great county clerk and role model.” “I saw how hard she [Meyers] worked to serve the citizens of


Polk County,” Harrison said. “She was a great teacher, and I loved being a part of her staff. When she decided to retire, I knew that is what I wanted to do.” After Meyers retired in 2000, Harrison announced she was


Polk County’s Harrison is county clerks’ new representative on board


Story and Photo by Holland Doran AAC Communications Coordinator


about her job.


“I took an oath to serve, and I take that very seriously,” Har- rison said. “I care about the people that have elected me to this position and being a voice for them is very important to me.” Harrison has not only been a voice for county residents, but she also has led her fellow county clerks in the Arkansas Asso- ciation of County Clerks. She served as president from January 2014 to December 2015. Prior to that, she served as first vice- president and second vice-president. She also spent four years on the association’s continuing education board, working with the


P COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2018


olk County Clerk Terri Harrison has had to navi- gate a few debatable political issues over the years, such as voter ID law and same-sex marriage laws. But one thing is not debatable: she is passionate


running for the position. She had opposition in both the primary and general elections, but she bypassed the competition. She was elected that November and took office Jan. 1, 2001. After 24 years of organizing elections, Harrison still enjoys them. She is proud of the work her office did to move from paper ballots to electronic voting machines in 2006. “When I first started working for the county, and even when


I first became clerk, all the voting was done by paper ballot,” she said. “We had a central tabulator at the courthouse. People in charge of the polling places would bring ballots to the courthouse.” Tis process changed when the Help America Vote Act passed in 2002. Te law required states to update their election process- es. Beginning in the 2006 elections, the county decided to use the new electronic voting machines, purchased by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office. Te change was a challenge at first and required “a lot of voter education,” but the public and her staff quickly warmed up to it. “It does save a lot of time on election night,” she said. “Before my time, poll workers would count ballots at the polling place before they brought them in. Now all they have to do is shut the machines down and turn them into us.” Harrison and her husband of 28 years, John, have two chil-


dren, Jeremy and Brandie. Jeremy is a senior at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and Brandie is a freshman at the Uni- versity of Arkansas – Rich Mountain in Mena.


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