J.D. Clark takes office as NACo president

Key Takeaways

Just blocks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia — where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence — a former high school history teacher rose to lead an organization representing a form of government that preceded the United States by more than 100 years.

J.D. Clark, 39, judge of the Wise County, Texas Commissioners Court, took office as president of the National Association of Counties, which in the 17th century, long before there was a Texas, would have been an organization of shires. 

Clark will be joined by NACo officers including First Vice President George Dunlap, a Mecklenburg County, N.C. commissioner, and Second Vice President Alisha Bell, a Wayne County, Mich. commissioner who prevailed in an election over Greene County, Mo. Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon. Sonoma County, Calif. Supervisor James Gore will serve as immediate past president.

The timing, less than 250 years since the founding of the United States, was not lost on Clark.

“Why do we share history? To teach, to spark something new, to shape the future,” he said July 14 during the Annual Business Meeting. “Our stories — the wins, the struggles, the growth — those stories where people remember. They’re how we pass things on. How we lead.”

The four officers are joined on the executive committee by NACo’s four regional representatives, including Johnson County, Wyo. Commissioner Bill Novotny (who will succeed Cascade County, Mont. Commissioner Joe Briggs after six years as West Regional Representative); South Regional Representative Ron Berry, a Roane County, Tenn. commissioner; Tammy Tincher, a Greenbrier County, W.Va. commissioner and Kurt Gibbs, a Marathon County, Wis. supervisor.

Clark recognized his wife, Leah, and daughters Claire, Maggie and Zelda for the sacrifices they make as he takes on added responsibility.

“You have grown up around NACo and the county courthouse. Girls, I thank you so much for sharing your daddy with so many people,” he said. “Public servants in the room, we all know that our service is often hardest on, and on the shoulders of our spouses. Thank you for doing this with me.”

In his speech to attendees, Clark emphasized the importance of telling the county story to help the rest of the country better understand the challenges counties face in serving the American public. It’s a focus he will carry through during his year as NACo president — “County Storytellers.”

“Long before words were written, stories were made and shared,” he said. “They were spoken around fires, whispered under the stars, painted on cave walls. And these weren’t just tales for entertainment. These stories were lifelines, passing down lessons of how to survive, and how to dream far beyond the horizon.”

Clark’s first act of storytelling as NACo president was to pick up his guitar and perform a song he wrote for the occasion, recounting the nature of public service in county government – “Hold That County Line.”

There’s a courthouse that’s carved out of stone 

Standing proud, standing strong. 

We finally put a new roof on 

The whole town came to see it.

But somebody’s dumped a load of tires 

Somebody cut fiber optic wires 

We’ll build a bridge, put out a fire and every way you can mean it. 

And we don’t ask a lot, just give it all we got. 

We show up rain or shine 

And it’s a breed apart, a public servant’s heart. 

As for me and mine, we’ll hold that county line.

In 1634, they called us shires, 

Do the work that the law requires 

Balance all that with folks' desires and the details find the devil. 

From the mountains high, from plains to coast 

Counties do what matters most

 Let’s raise our voice, let’s raise a toast, to life at the local level. 

And we don’t ask a lot, just give it all you got. 

We show up rain or shine 

And it’s a breed apart, a public servant’s heart.

As for me and mine, we’ll hold that county line

3,069 hold that county line.

Before Clark tuned his guitar, the membership tuned its bylaws to meet changing times, and attendees also celebrated Nebraska becoming a 100% NACo member state.