Strong Move: Local attorney runs for office to increase county efficiency

Attorney Kathryn Strong may be new to campaigning, but that doesn’t intimidate her from considering a run for Circuit Clerk this coming year in Sumner County, Tenn.

Strong is one of many who has decided she wants to make a difference in her local government. Equipped with specific goals and aspirations to bring Sumner up-to-date technologically and a few tips from a recent American Majority New Leaders Campaign Training, Strong is ready to do as much as she can for her home.

“I want to be more of a positive influence in this county,” said Strong. “I feel like I am already, but [as circuit clerk] I would have an opportunity to touch more lives and make Sumner county greater.”

Currently, Strong is an attorney with her own practice – Strong Law Group – in Gallatin, Tenn. For as long as she’s had her practice, she’s seen problems with county records and the way information is stored. Interacting with these different records and struggling to find information due to lack of organization, Strong saw an opportunity to change things and make the county more efficient when the recent circuit clerk retired.

“I would like to help [record keeping] become more efficient by creating websites, [in order to] make the office more efficient and save tax payer dollars,” said Strong. According to Strong, the current state of records has fallen behind causing different facets of her local government to decrease in efficiency. Strong believes that with the right amount of technology introduced to record keeping, criminal records would be in better condition, and voter registration would be made simpler and therefore more accessible. By allowing voters to register online instead of at a specific location, the process would be easier for everyone.

Jury duty, and the justice system especially, is an area where Strong sees room for technological improvement. Currently, several hundred people are called to the courthouse at a time. Each of these individuals are required to take off work that morning, but only 30-40 of those called are chosen for duty, at which point everyone else goes home or back to work.

“That can be done via telephone so a couple hundred people don’t have to to take the morning off work to find out if they have to be called.” Strong added that Sumner can take example from several surrounding counties that have successfully switched to using the phone as means for calling people into jury duty. “I would hope that the judges would be willing to work with the technology and use of the files in the court room.”

Strong shifted her campaign focus after attending the American Majority training held a few weeks ago in Goodlettsville, Tenn. Strong wasn’t quite sure what would be most effective in terms of fundraising since the position she’s running for hadn’t been challenged in 32 years. Practically, this means the candidates won’t know how much fundraising will be needed to run a successful campaign. “I had been more event driven, and [the training] really pointed out how much less expensive it is to call people and get the money that way.”

“I left very excited and motivated,” said Strong. “I know I needed a more concrete plan, and [the speaker] verified that I do.” Pointed in the right direction with high hopes of improvement for her county, Strong is ready to tackle her campaign with full force.