Coffelt won’t run for court clerk in 2012

Lake County circuit court Clerk Sally Coffelt announced Thursday she won’t seek re-election in 2012.

Coffelt, the court clerk since 1980, is the longest-serving countywide elected official. She last won re-election in 2008, defeating Democratic challenger Cynthia Pruim Haran.

“A lot has changed since I took office in 1980,” Coffelt, a Waukegan Republican, said in a prepared statement. “Lake County has significantly grown, and so has the amount of court records that we manage.”

Coffelt’s current term expires Nov. 30, 2012.

Coffelt took pride in the computerization of her office, which keeps track of court records for the public and employees in the court system. She also worked to integrate those records with the state’s attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office and other law-enforcement agencies.

But Coffelt’s tenure was not without controversy.

During her 2004 and 2008 campaigns, Coffelt was criticized by her rivals and some Democratic Lake County Board members for hiring family members.

In 2004, Coffelt confirmed her brother, sister-in-law, two nieces and other relatives were employed in her office, but she denied allegations of nepotism. She said she didn’t seek out relatives to hire and that those who were on the county payroll were reliable employees.