ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603250079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
Alice Hall, who has worked in the Franklin County Circuit Court Clerk's office for 43 years, will make an independent bid for the chief clerk's job in November.
Hall, 61, has been keeping political insiders guessing as to what avenue she would choose to run.
She an-nounced Saturday that she has decided to campaign as an independent instead of challenging Franklin County Sheriff's Capt. Bill Overton in a Democratic Party primary in June.
The county Republican Party contacted Hall, but has since nominated Ben Pinckard Jr.
Hall said she is running as an independent because a clerk serves the public at large, and she thought some might perceive bias if she sought the nomination of a political party.
Hall began her career in the clerk's office in 1953 as a front desk employee under Clerk Edwin Greer. She was appointed deputy clerk in the late 1950s and served in that capacity for 28 years under Clerk Bill Walker.
Walker retired Jan. 1, and a special election is being held in November to fill the remaining four years of an eight-year term.
The clerk's salary is $72,000 a year.
Hall said she has seen major changes during her years in the office. At the start of her career, clerks recorded information by hand. Later, electric typewriters were used, and now almost everything is computerized.
"I've done everything you can do in a clerk's office," she said.
Hall, a Franklin County native, lives near the Redwood community, a few miles east of Rocky Mount.
Overton, 35, and Pinckard, 25, also are county natives.
Pinckard, of Rocky Mount, is an internal auditor with Carilion Health Systems in Roanoke.
Wayne Angell, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, also is considering a run for clerk.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Hall, Overton, Pinckard. KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB