From the Courthouse to the Church House:
Circuit Clerk Leads Busy Life
Wednesday, October 12,
By Cathy Patton
From the church house, to the court house to his house, McDowell County Circuit
Clerk Mike Brooks is a man with a message and a mission.
“I’m blessed,; Brooks said. “I have a great job and a wonderful family. I’m a
very thankful person. I just feel overwhelmed with blessings.”
But Brooks hasn’t always held such a positive outlook. In fact, there was a time
in his life when he felt otherwise. Orphaned at a young age, the Roderfield native was
one of several siblings raised by his sister Faye Muncy, and her husband, Walter.
“From the time I was born, it seems that life was stacked against me to ensure my
failure. I know what it’s like to live by the railroad tracks and have barely enough to get
by,” he said. “It made me thankful that I’ve been blessed to do what I’ve been able to do.
At one time, I was bitter and angry. Then I realized that instead of one Mom, God gave
me two Instead of one Dad, I had two.”
The negative experiences during his younger years forged a desire in Brooks to
make a difference.
“I know the hardships my family went through when I was younger,” he said.
‘I always wanted to be a cop because I realized what it was like to need someone and not
to have anyone to speak for you.
After graduating from Mt. View High School and attending Bluefield State
College, Broods experienced his dream and becoming a military policeman in the Marine
Corp.”
“I had planned on being a lifer in the service but I hurt my back,” he says.
“After three years, my wife, Nikki, and I returned to Coalwood with our young
son Michael.”
Though job opportunities in South Carolina beckoned him, Brooks ended up
taking a local job as a private investigator with Don Hicks. When Hicks later became
Sheriff, Brooks was named as Chief Field Deputy
After Hicks left his post, Brooks was appointed as interim Sheriff and later
elected.
“I was 30 years old, the youngest Sheriff in the history of the county, the youngest
one in the state and maybe one of the youngest in the country.
I tried to be a pro-active, instead of reactive,” Brooks said. “Though the funding
for the DARE Program had been cut, I allowed my officers to continue to teach the
classes.
“I saw a lot of violence in the schools, so we implemented the P.R.O.
Program and put officers in them.
“As Sheriff, there was a lot of paperwork to do. I liked the job, but I was
ready for a change when my term ended.”
July 1, 2004, Brooks was appointed to fill Circuit Clerk Sally Childers’
unexpired term. He assumed the position the following January. Though he has been in
office less than a year, he has implemented considerable change in the Circuit Clerk’s
Office.
“The Circuit Clerk is responsible for keeping the records of the Circuit
Court, as well as the Family Law system,” Brooks said. “The volume of records we keep
is tremendous.
“The records we keep are mandated by law. The Supreme Court provides
us with a record retention list. When I first took office I was in awe of the volume. We
have some records that date back to the late 1800s and some financial records from the
1960s.”
Because of the sheer volume of the records, Brooks quickly discovered that
storage space is severely limited in his offices.
“When I took office, we didn’t even have enough file cabinets, and the
two vaults were packed full,” he said. “I knew I had to do something.”
Brooks approached the County Commission about the problem and is now
pleased to report that he will soon receive a $10,000 grant from the Governor’s Office.
“We should receive the grant any day now. The grant will allow us to
build two additional floors to store records, and it will allow us to continue to update and
upgrade” he said.
Speaking of upgrading, Brooks said he is appreciative of the assistance the
Supreme Court continues to provide his office,
“The Circuit Clerk’s office was computerized in 1998, but it wasn’t being
fully utilized. The working knowledge of the system was poor. That’s all changed now.
We weren’t doing some things that needed to be done, and we were going some things
that we didn’t need to do. We’re working daily to make the office operate more
efficiently.
“I have a great staff of eight who helps me. It’s a constant upgrading and
updating process. We’re constantly looking for a better, easier way to do things. My
staff is doing a great job.”
According to Brooks, certain records his office maintains are open for
public inspection. Others are not.
“We have a terminal that the public can use to access certain records.
Other records, such as adoptions, divorce and juvenile matters and anything else that a
judge deems private, cam not be accessed by the public.”
There is even a process, Brooks said, for destroying certain records.
“Some have to be returned and some have to be shredded,” he said. “It all
depends on what the record is.”
When he isn’t busy with his job, Brooks serves as the pastor of Trinity
Temple Church and as president of the Mt. View High School Football Boosters. He
also enjoys family time with his wife, Nikki, and two children, Michael and Mikayla.
“My family has had a rough time during this past year,” he says. “People
ask me all the time if I miss the Sheriff’s Office. I don’t miss it. I like being Sheriff but
the job is very stressful on your family life. I hope to retire from my current position. I
just appreciate the fact that God has blessed me and that people have placed their trust in
me,”
