Heather Gilbert seeks Recorder’s Office

I have spent 23 years in the Putnam County Clerk’s Office, first serving as bookkeeper/first deputy handling guardianships, estates, foreclosures, paternities and child support. In 2015, I took over the helm as the Putnam County Clerk and began running the elections.

In 2018, I along with my Election Board transitioned Putnam County to Vote Centers saving the county money and resources. Vote Centers requires fewer buildings, workers and food costs. Vote Centers allow voters to go to any of the eight sites, making it more convenient on Election Day.

In 2021, myself along with Debbie Ensor, first deputy, and my staff came to the aid of newly-appointed Parke County Clerk Henry Harper. Harper, who received no training from the previous clerk, and whose entire staff quit, called requesting assistance. We went without hesitation.

Debbie and I handled both Putnam and Parke for seven weeks. I trained Harper to handle the clerk duties and hire new staff while Ensor balanced his financial books, which had been out of balance for quite some time. In June of 2021 I was presented the first ever Rock Star award from the Indiana Clerk’s Association in appreciation for going above and beyond for a fellow clerk.

I was the bookkeeper responsible for the transition in 1999 when the Clerk’s Office moved from paper financial ledgers to CSI books. When the court transitioned to Odyssey in 2018, a glitch happened causing the financial judgments to transfer incorrectly, causing me to oversee more than 13,000 judgments to be hand audited and corrected; taking two years to complete.

As clerk, I have worked hard to preserve the records of this office. Previously we were not able to identify old records due to the labels being painted over years ago. Therefore, I hired a worker to identify these records and log them. Odyssey is a paperless system, therefore, we scanned the old paper files into Odyssey. The Clerk’s back room has never been so organized.

I am proud to call Putnam County home. I grew up here as the daughter of Bob and Ginny Callahan with my sister Amanda. I went to school here, married my husband Chris 33 years ago and raised our children here. We have three children, Shelby (spouse Vicki), Christopher and bonus son Noah and two grandchildren, Emmett and Mila.

If elected recorder, I plan to continue working as hard at the preservation of records that I began in the Clerk’s Office. I am familiar with the CSI system that is used in the Recorder’s Office and will be able to transition easily to working and balancing in that program.

The residents of Putnam County will continue to receive the kind and courteous service they have come to expect from me in the past. I have the support of the previous Recorder Marty Watts.