Jun. 10—Glenna Craig, 58, is the Payne County Clerk and she is the only candidate to file to run for this seat, which will be decided June 18.

When elected, this will be Craig’s fourth term. She is a member of the Republican Party.

“I am honored to serve the Payne County citizens and continue a proven legacy of efficiency, ethics, leadership and transparency in county government,” Craig said.

Craig has served in Payne County government for 36 years, including service as secretary of elections and chief deputy assessor.

She is a native of Stillwater and graduated from Stillwater High School. She then graduated from Oklahoma State University.

Craig has been married to Gordy Craig for 36 years. They have two children and a granddaughter.

During her tenure, the County Clerk’s office has increased transparency and ease of access to public records, Craig said. The County Clerk website now includes a variety of county information not previously available to the public online.

Recently added is an online land record search for the public and a property fraud alert system, both free from the County Clerk’s website.

Users can also find land records, board minutes, board meeting recordings, the county budget, county policies, county bids, land record forms, state audit reports, as well as other public information and reviews.

“We have made professionalism and customer service the hallmarks of the office,” Craig said.

As Payne County Clerk, Craig is the principal record keeper for the County and preserves all legal instruments filed by private citizens and public officials within that office.

The office maintains current records of legal instruments including deeds; mortgages; plat maps; oil, gas, and mineral leases; liens and U.S. military discharge papers.

The Payne County Clerk’s office records more than 17,644 land record documents a year, processes more than 10,000 purchase orders a year, issues over 10,000 warrants and executes payroll and employee insurance benefits for more than 200 County employees — accounting must be accurate, she said.

Craig and her team also track the County 1/8th, 1/4th, 3/8th and 1/16th sales tax and report these numbers, then administer to these monies to the various departments that receive this funding.

Craig serves as secretary to several County boards, including the Board of County Commissioners, Budget Board, County Excise-Equalization Board, Tax Roll Corrections, Payne County Economic Development Authority and the Payne County Facility Authority.

Her office prepares and posts the agenda, notices and minutes for the majority of meetings for these groups and posts public audio recordings of the proceedings to the County Clerk website, then files relevant documents in compliance of Oklahoma’s Open Meetings and Open Records Act.

Craig said she is not “just a public servant, but a servant of her community” and currently sits on the Stillwater Frontier Rotary board and is on the Oklahoma Special Olympics’ summer games committee.

The County Clerk is responsible for recording all appropriations and expenditures in more than 100 financial accounts for each County office and department monthly, Craig said.

With this knowledge, Craig assists the County certified public accountant in preparing and presenting the County budget, which is more than $39 million annually, she said.

As the administrator of the Purchasing Agent for the County, she handles the paperwork for purchases, rentals and lease-purchase agreements, as well as keeping sealed bids for the BOCC — all the handling of money means she must remain vigilant as a careful steward of the taxpayer dollar, she said.

The Payne County Clerk’s office was recently in the News Press for helping identify fraudulent documents that led to the conviction of former Payne County employee Linda Gail Farley, 61, who was found guilty on May 30 of six counts of felony embezzlement and two counts of making a false entry regarding the expenditure of public funds.