Jennifer Hardesty Besecker has spent the last month adjusting to her new position as Daviess County Circuit Court Clerk. Although 22 years of experience in working for the circuit court system might lead one to believe Besecker knows all the ins and outs of the job, there’s still a lot to learn when taking on such an enormous responsibility.
“I’m just adjusting to going from the role of deputy clerk to circuit clerk. For the last month, I’ve been adjusting to the personnel part of it,” Besecker said. “Now I’m managing 30-plus ladies. That’s the biggest change for me right now.”
As circuit court deputy clerk, Besecker was one of the many employees she now resides over — a turning of the tables that she’s ready to take on, and even more so with the training and hard work she’s put in.
Besecker’s first week on the job included a trip to Frankfort, where she attended the Circuit Clerks College.
“I was able to listen and gather information. It was a very helpful tool, just being able to utilize that information,” Besecker said.
The circuit court clerk carries many responsibilities at the Judicial Center. Besecker will be in charge of managing all civil and criminal filings. She will also be the person in charge of the pooling and calling of a jury. As the leader, Besecker will also be responsible for responding to emails, creating timesheets and, of course, managing her employees.
It doesn’t hurt that Besecker’s been part of the courts system her entire adult life. Her father, Pat Hardesty, was the circuit court clerk from 1988-99, and Besecker grew up watching her dad perform the job before the torch was eventually passed on to her.
However, getting the job was, admittedly, not an easy process for Besecker. She had to resign from her job as circuit court deputy clerk before starting her general election campaign for circuit court clerk.
“I had to quit my job — it was stressful. I knew I would be out of a job if I lost,” Besecker said. “I prayed every day. When I passed the test [for circuit court clerk], I was relieved.”
Even after passing the test required to be a circuit court clerk, Besecker knew she had a long journey ahead of her because of the general election campaign. Besecker was up against Democratic candidate Jason Roberts for the seat.
“I thought, ‘It’s either now or never,’” Besecker said. “I always knew, in the back of mind, I would run for this. I think every day about the ‘what-ifs,’ and I’m so thankful that I did it.”
It took what Besecker refers to as “a huge leap of faith” to run for the position of circuit court clerk. Besecker said even after she’d come to terms with the fact that God hadn’t failed her yet, and that whatever was meant to happen, would happen, she still experienced stress throughout her campaign.
“There were days that were hard — I couldn’t sleep. I had to spend a lot of time away from my family, my kids,” Besecker said. “But I wanted everyone to see my face [during the campaign], not my mom’s face. I wanted them to make that recognition that I was who they were voting for.”
In the end, Besecker decided that quitting her job was the best thing that could’ve happened for her campaign.
“It was a blessing in disguise because campaigning is a full-time job, and you never stop,” Besecker said.
For the near future and the changes that come with it, Besecker’s first point of focus will be on the Real ID implementation that will affect Kentucky residents in 2019. For the next six to eight months, Besecker says she will put most of her focus into making sure the Real ID process goes as smoothly as it possibly can.
Besecker also has plans to incorporate a texting service for jurors. As part of her five-point plan, she hopes to work with Frankfort in bringing the texting service to the local area, which would prevent jurors from having to call into the clerk’s office for jury updates and other matters.
“I bought a texting number for my employees, and I want to look into that for jurors,” Besecker said. “We’re still working with Frankfort on that change.”
