(FORT BEND COUNTY) - Republican Annie Rebecca Elliott is back on the ballot and hopes in November to regain the District Clerk seat she held for 12 years before losing to Democrat Beverley McGrew Walker in the 2018 mid-term elections.
“There were things I still needed to accomplish that I started,” said Elliott of her 2018 loss. “As a matter of fact, some of those things are still pending. It was very hard, more than anything I really enjoyed my job and knew we were doing good for the county.”
The District Clerk is the registrar, recorder and custodian of all court pleadings, instruments and papers that are part of any legal cause of action in the district courts.
Elliott has been passionate about the field of law her entire life and more than thirty years ago one of her first jobs was as a clerk in the District Clerk’s Office.
“I really enjoyed it, being in the courtroom,” she said. “It was amazing to me. I had always wanted to be a lawyer. I didn’t get my dream, so this was about as close as I was going to get to the law.”
Elliott, who has a bachelor’s in business and is a paralegal, continued her career in law, eventually leaving the county and working for various attorneys and judges. She says it was during those years that became aware of changes that could be made in the District Clerk’s Office that could improve the efficiency of the courts and the experience of everyone involved in the system.
“Those last three or four years, being the coordinator and seeing the needs we had and the complaints the District Clerk’s Office had, what it was lacking and seeing where it needed to go, that was where the decision was made,” she said. She ran for District Clerk, won, and took office in 2007. “I could see the future and I had the support, so that is the reason I did it. And I loved every moment of anything I have had to do with the law.”
Elliott says when she took office the systems in place were outdated and upgrading technology became one of her first priorities. She also made all part-time clerks full-time employees, giving them six months of training. She says during her time in office she worked to not only upgrade the technology but to get all county offices on the same system.
“We were working at a state level as well and getting other counties on board with the same system, it was just such a bigger picture, it was amazing,” she said. “I enjoyed it and loved my job and had an awesome team to work with. Fort Bend was a leader in technology in the State of Texas.”
Elliott also emphasized the importance of the District Clerk’s Office.
“It is not as simple as just being a clerk,” she said. “If this office did not exist, you would never get in front of a judge. I see the District Clerk’s Office as a spoke on a wheel and that spoke is what makes the wheel spin. The District Attorney’s Office, civil cases, the only way you get the wheels of justice moving is with a spoke, and that spoke is the District Clerk’s Office."
Elliott says if she is elected in November she plans to continue the work she started in 2007.
“This is something I really enjoy,” she said of her decision to run again. “What do I have to lose? I never gave up on Fort Bend County.”
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