High Country Press has interviewed each candidate and here is our conversation with Linda Webb that includes ten questions and her answers to each, sharing her personal and professional backgrounds and telling Avery’s voters why they should vote for her.
High Country Press (HCP): What is your personal background?
Webb: I live in the Crossnore area with my husband Robert Merle Webb. I am the daughter of Jack Austin and the late Irene Austin. We have lived in the area for over 40 years. We have one son Jesse Dwayne Webb who graduated from Avery High School and went on to play football for Mars Hill College. Jesse is married to Candis Watson Webb who is the great granddaughter of the late “Doc” and Rosalee Watson. I attended Freedom High School and graduated from Mayland Community College. I also went on to take many business classes through Maryland Community College. I have attended many classes through the Administrative Office of The Courts. I am a member of the Deputy Clerk’s association. I’m an active member of Curtis Creek Freewill Baptist Church where I am also treasurer.
HCP: What is your professional background?
Webb: I am a professional photographer. I own Linda Webb Photography and I’m co-owner of the photography studio. I worked at the Avery County Bank in the bookkeeping department under the late Martha Guy for seven years. I worked part time at the North Carolina Farm Service Agency. I also owned my own business, Webb Sports where I did screen printing and retail sports. I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma several years ago, which took me a couple of hard years to recover. I then sold my Webb Sports business and I worked as Town Clerk for Elk Park for almost a year until beginning my current job in the Avery Clerk of Superior Court’s office.
HCP: Why are you are a candidate for Avery County Clerk of Superior Court?
Webb: I am always up for a new challenge. My goal was to run for the Clerk’s position once the former Clerk retired.
HCP: In what role have you served in the Avery Clerk of Court’s office?
Webb: I serve as Deputy Clerk in Criminal and Superior Court which includes many duties and responsibilities.
HCP: What have been your specific duties in each job you have had in the Clerk of Court’s office?
Webb: I have various court room jobs and I must keep accurate records of each case and typing the court judgments. Those judgments consist of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI, felonies, e-citations, misdemeanors, traffic citations and bond forfeitures. I also have to issue orders for arrest and 20-day failures.
Additionally, I am the clerk in Avery County Drug Court and for the worthless check division.
And other duties I have include conducting scanning and receipting money.
HCP: What are the most noted changes in the operation of a Clerk of Court’s office since you first started working in the Avery office?
Webb: The most noted change has been going from paper to computer filing. When I first started working in the Clerk’s Office, we had to do all judgements in the courtroom by hand. The Automated Criminal Infraction System (ACIS) was the only computer program that we had at that time and you had to memorize all the form numbers it used. That helped when we switched over to electronic judgements.
The Automated Criminal/Infractions System (ACIS) provides the superior and district courts in North Carolina with accurate and timely criminal and infraction case information. The system is offered to the public through public inquiry devices.
Also, we have a statewide system for Orders For Arrest (OFA’s), which is called NCAWARE. It is the computer system that is used by judicial officials, usually magistrates, to create criminal process documents such as arrest warrants and criminal summonses.
All OFA’s were converted from paper to electronic. Anyone arrested in the State of North Carolina with pending charges in other counties will show up through NCAWARE.
The Courts also now has the Criminal Court Information System (CCIS), a network that provides easy access to case information and case documents from a single system.
I’m sufficient in several state court programs, including: The Automated Criminal Infraction System (ACIS); NCAWARE; Criminal Court Information System (CCIS); and the Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP).
The VCAP is the payer of last resort and is able to reimburse insurance co-pays, out of network expenses and other out-of-pocket costs.
HCP: Your fellow-candidates for Clerk of Court all have strengths in their work in the judicial system. But what do you consider your greatest strengths for the position?
Webb: I feel my greatest strength is 19 years’ experience working in the courtroom. Working and knowing the courtroom and how it operates is a big part of a Clerk of Superior Court’s job. I have a great working relationship with the district and superior court judges and the District Attorney’s Office. I also have a good relationship with all the attorneys and law enforcement officers. Most of them are like family.
HCP: If elected, what can Avery County’s residents and others who have business with the Clerk of Court’s office expect under your direction?
Webb: If elected, I will run the Clerk of Superior Court’s office with honesty and integrity. I will make sure that each one of my employees will be treated fairly and without partiality. I will treat them with the respect that they deserve. Your employees are what makes your office. I want it to be a total team effort.
HCP: What changes to the Clerk’s office do you plan to make if you’re elected as Clerk of Court?
Webb: I have been asked what changes I will make if elected. I can’t honestly say what changes I will make at this time.
HCP: What other comments would you like to insert?
Webb: I encourage each one of the citizens to come by and meet their new elected Clerk. Come by and see what our office employees do. My door will always be open to the citizens of Avery County whether they have business or just want to talk.
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