District clerk asks commissioners for $2,000 base pay boost for deputy clerks

Cooke County District Clerk Marcy told the commissioners court on June 25 she is asking for a $2,000 base salary increase for each of her deputy clerks to reflect expanded responsibilities and recent operational stress on the office.

Marcy described deputy clerks’ duties that include filing and certifying legal papers, ensuring filings meet statutory requirements, managing warrants and indexing cases. She said clerks must understand statutes and partial laws related to filings and that the role often requires specialized, legally oriented work and dishonesty bonds. “They are deputized deputy clerks,” Marcy said, and asked that their pay be adjusted to reflect that status.

Marcy said the past six months had been “very taxing” on her office because of extra filings and repeated touches on cases; she argued a modest across‑the‑board increase would recognize the workload and reduce retention risk. The ask was described as $2,000 per clerk, which she equated to roughly $12,000 in total additional payroll across six clerks before employer taxes.

Marcy also described progress on record digitization: preservation payments for a previously approved project are nearly complete, scanned records are placed in acid‑free boxes and stored offsite under climate control, and a scanning clerk has moved 8½ years of criminal records into digital format. She asked that the scanning position remain to complete indexing.

The commissioners heard Marcy’s case but did not take immediate action; she provided a breakdown of duties and urged the court to consider the adjustments as part of the FY2026 budget process.