County Government Month allows Lowndes County to teach community

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s National County Government Month and Lowndes County is celebrating county workers and educating the public on some of those jobs.

At some point in your life, you are going to need to work with someone in county government.

Whether it’s getting a deed for your home, buying a tag for your car, or getting your marriage license, county workers are there in some way for many of your life moments.

You just may not realize it.

“People don’t know how much we do in the office and people go ‘wow’ when they realize what we do,” said Barksdale.

April is National County Government Month. It’s a time to highlight the specific jobs that are being done behind the desk of County Government workers.

From the Tax Assessor to the Circuit Court Clerk, even the dispatchers at 911, many people may not be familiar with what all the responsibilities that fall to the county.

EMS Director Cindy Lawrence says 911 dispatchers receive calls from medical emergencies to noise complaints but their most popular calls are animal related.

But they take them all.

“They are actually supporting the citizens through the first emergency call that comes to them and whatever emergency that they are dealing with at that time,” said Lawrence.

And multitasking is required when you put on the headset.

“You got to do more than answer the call. You have to get the call out and get as much

Lowndes County Circuit Court Clerk Teresa Barksdale explained what goes on in her office.

“We do voters registration and we do the elections then we have circuit court and then civil court where someone sues someone or is being sued and we have a criminal court which handles felonies and we do marriage licenses,” said Lawrence.

Barksdale said many people don’t know what they do but they are always willing to educate the public.

“We do try to educate people on what the office does as a whole,” said Barksdale.

If you would like to learn more, the Lowndes County Courthouse is opening its doors tomorrow to educate the public on the many roles of the county.

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