Wednesday's Internet Edition, March 10, 2010.

Roane County prosecuting attorney Josh Downey and circuit clerk Beverly Greathouse say they will adjust their hours even though county commissioners voted earlier this month to keep the courthouse open from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

“We just don’t have anybody on Saturday,” Greathouse said. “As for people coming in, we just don’t have them.”

The Saturday schedule became an issue after Downey offered commissioners his opinion that state code allows elected officials to set their own office hours. Several courthouse employees had signed a petition asking that commissioners close the courthouse on all but the first and last Saturdays of each month.

Of the 52 Saturdays in 2010, the courthouse is already closed on 11 of them because of holidays or to create long weekends in conjunction with Monday holidays.

Greathouse said she now plans to keep her office open on only the first Saturday of each month, beginning in February. Downey said he was leaning toward keeping his office closed every Saturday.

“I think we had three people last year (on Saturdays),” Downey said. “That’s not enough to keep it open.”

Greathouse and Downey said the nature of their offices in dealing with the court system make it less likely the public would need them on a weekend. Both of those offices are located on the second floor of the courthouse.

The three downstairs offices – county clerk, assessor and sheriff – will remain open on Saturdays.

“When the courthouse doors are open, my doors will be open,” assessor Emily Westfall said. “When I ran my (first) campaign, I really felt like the courthouse needed to be more accessible to the public, and I still believe that.”

Sheriff Mike Harper said his hours would conform to those observed by Westfall.

“I think if the assessor’s office is going to be open, ours should be also,” he said. “One pretty much goes with the other.”

Harper said people who visit the assessor often go next door to his office in order to pay their taxes. He said he has about five to 10 people come in on a regular Saturday, and more at tax time.

“Then they all rush in,” he said.

County clerk Charlie White allows his staff to have weekends off by working every Saturday himself. He said it would be business as usual in his office, which has had as many as 30 visitors on a Saturday.

“I’ll be here every Saturday we’re open,” White said. “Members of the public who come in here tell us they appreciate us being open.”

White’s office handles a variety of duties, from voter registration to the issuance of marriage and fishing licenses.

“We handle something in your life from birth to death,” he said. “We do a lot of marriage applications on Saturdays. I think it’s important, at least, that this office is open.”

Greathouse, who said only one or two people a month come to her office on Saturdays, said other arrangements can be made for those unable to get to the courthouse on weekdays. Those interested may call her office to schedule an appointment, she said.

Downey said his staff had recently started taking phone calls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Normal courthouse hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Much of the office’s contact with the public is over the phone, he said, although Saturday and Sunday office appointments can be arranged if necessary.

“I think that make us open more to the public than three hours on a Saturday,” Downey said.

White and Westfall pointed out that some county residents who work away are only able to come to the courthouse on Saturdays. Being available for those people is important, White noted.

“For a lot of people it’s the only time they can get here,” White said. “What we do might just be a small thing, but it’s important to them.”