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Resident presses Pierce County Council on court records, urges support for making clerk an elected office
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Summary
At the community forum a resident, Heather Benedict, alleged a county clerk destroyed her mother’s probate court order and urged the council to support Proposal P1 to make the county clerk an elected position, saying the change would increase transparency and accountability.
During community forum at the April 2026 Pierce County Council meeting, Heather Benedict, a District 2 property owner, accused an appointed county clerk of destroying her mother’s probate court order and described a decade‑long effort to obtain accountability. Benedict said she has assembled public‑records evidence and audio and that a claim is pending in risk management. She urged the council to support Proposal P1 (a charter change to make the county clerk an elected office) as a structural remedy and asked council members to advocate to constituents in favor of the change.
Benedict told the council she believes the problem is systemic rather than the actions of a single clerk, and she said Pierce County is among a small number of counties that do not elect their clerk. "If the court record, public record cannot be trusted, then who — how can the judicial system be trusted?" Benedict said. She asked the council to back the charter change and said the executive has lobbied against P1.
The council did not take action on the request during the meeting; Chair Hitchen closed community forum and the council adjourned. The Charter Review Commission was mentioned by Benedict as the body advancing the proposal.