Clerk properly appointed

Questions have been raised regarding interim county clerk Ashley Herpich’s appointment.

State statutes used to require that anyone appointed to serve as interim county clerk must live in the county.

Herpich, appointed in January, has been a Morris County resident for nearly 11 years.

She was assistant clerk before being appointed to replace Tina Spencer after Spencer was hired to be county administrator.

A 2014 statute on vacancies in offices required replacement clerks to be qualified electors of the county, but the statute was revised in 2019 to say state rather than county.