Dougherty County’s new clerk of courts hits the ground running

ALBANY – It’s a safe bet that retired Dougherty County Clerk of Court Evonne Mull’s nearly six-decade tenure will be a hard record to beat.

But the successor to the former fixture at the Dougherty County courthouse, who retired on Jan. 29, has also racked up plenty of time in the legal system in both private legal practice as a paralegal, assistant to a Dougherty County Superior Court judge and in the clerk’s office.

Phyllis Johnson was also selected by Mull to take over when Mull began making plans for her exit. At the time, Johnson, an Americus native who moved to Albany at the age of 5, was working in Superior Court Judge Victoria Darrisaw’s office.

“Mrs. Mull contacted me to see if I was interested in coming back as a supervisor,” Johnson said. “She approached me about being the supervisor in the real estate division.”

After Johnson spent time in real estate, Mull promoted her to chief deputy clerk, a position that included supervising the entire staff and human resources duties.

Johnson’s career in the legal field began in 1999, when she was hired as the receptionist at the Brown-Williams & Associates law firm. While there, Johnson received a paralegal degree. As a paralegal she handled cases including adoptions and domestic relationships and specialized in real estate.

“Adoptions were really special,” she said. “You know, that’s an addition to the family. That was a wonderful event. I also really loved doing real estate closings.”

After 7 1/2 years, Johnson left that position to work with Mull in the clerk’s office. She later made the move to work with Darrisaw before returning to the clerk’s office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Dougherty County Judicial Building was closed, Johnson and Mull were the only two employees who continued to come in each day while the other clerks worked remotely.

“This office never closed down,” Johnson said. “We never stopped working, and we never worked at home. As long as there are citizens in Dougherty County, we will keep working. There is never a down time in the clerk’s office.”

On paper, Johnson’s description of the office’s role sounds simple, or at least succinct: It files and maintains the records of the county, including civil and criminal cases, real estate records as well as those of juries and the board of equalization. Deed records date back to the mid-1800s, about the time Dougherty County was created out of Baker County. Some records were lost during a courthouse fire.

As she moves into her new role, Johnson, who is in the process of moving from her current office to the larger one Mull occupied, is looking to make the office more efficient and convenient for those who require its services. That includes making more records available for view, printing online as well as providing online filing of court and real estate documents.

Individuals also may pay traffic tickets online, file liens, and acquire and renew notary public licenses.

“We try to make things a little bit easier for the public,” Johnson said. “We’re moving toward making sure everything is more available to the public.”

That includes eCertification, which makes available online the ability to request certified copies delivered by email of certain documents. Once the system is in place, individuals can request and receive things like a divorce decree online without making a trip to the courthouse, as well as copies of civil and criminal court dispositions.

“I am hoping to get all that done by late April,” Johnson said. “It will be a learning curve, but we are trying to make everything efficient for people.”

Residents also can sign up for a fraud-protection tool that is provided by an outside source and can give alerts to unusual activity such as when a lien is placed on an owner’s property by an individual who has criminal intent.

The new clerk is aware of some egregious cases, including one in which a homeowner was out of more than $100,000 that a scammer requested for a copy of a deed, a service that costs $3 through the clerk’s office.

The clerk is required to file any forms properly submitted and is not allowed to give legal advice, so Johnson suggested that individuals be alert to potential scams and seek an attorney if they need assistance.

Another court-related scams involves fake notices sent by text or email telling individuals that they failed to show up for jury duty and must send a payment to avoid being arrested. As the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office has said in the past, it does not send out such notices electronically; deputies would actually show up in person to make contact with someone who failed to show up for jury duty.

The elderly are among those most frequently targeted by the various scams, Johnson said.

The new clerk recently completed a 40-hour training class for newly elected clerks, and during those sessions she met her counterparts from a number of counties with whom she shared ideas about ways to make the office more efficient.

“It was good to bounce the ideas off different clerks,” she said. “The training was very informative.”

In 2025, Johnson will be flying solo in charge, and she said she is looking forward to the challenge.

“These are going to be some big shoes to fill,” she said. “She (Mull) has really been a blessing to me. Fifty-eight years is a long time to do a job, but she has done a remarkable job.

“I will work as hard as I can to ensure these records are received and accurate and we can continue to move forward in Dougherty County. I just want to serve the citizens of Dougherty County to the best of my ability. I want to make sure they get the service they need and deserve. I am grateful to be the new clerk.”