County clerk asks for exception to hiring freeze

St. Joseph County commissioners appear to be in favor of honoring county clerk Lindsay Oswald’s request for an exemption to the county’s hiring freeze.

Oswald told commissioners during their executive committee meeting Wednesday she is in need of a deputy clerk due to being short staffed.

Furthermore, she said there’s a strong chance she’ll be down a staff member for a couple months coming up soon, and she would like to get a new person trained.

Oswald said the register of deeds office cannot nor should not be manned by just one person. Oswald said the requested position was budgeted for 2021, as she had anticipated needing to hire someone at some point in May.

Approval of the request will appear before commissioners at their board meeting Tuesday next week.