The 38-year-old called his office the “nervous system” or spine of local legal structure.
The county Clerk of Courts office, which has a projected budget this year of a little over $4 million, is the custodian for all appellate, civil, felony, criminal and domestic relations filings in the Warren County Common Pleas Court and Warren County Court; the processing of all motor vehicle and watercraft title transactions; and is an authorized U.S. Passport acceptance agent. The Clerk of Courts has a four-year term with a salary of $113,136 for 2025.
Smith said he thrives on helping people by finding solutions and ways to innovate, but that he also is a servant.
“To truly help people and solve problems you have to humble yourself, and understand that a leader is nothing more than the highest form of a servant,” he said.
The clerk’s office employs 44 deputy clerks across three divisions: Common Pleas Division, County Court Division and Title Division. There are title offices in Lebanon, Franklin and Mason plus the Kings dealer branch. There are no open positions, Smith said.
“I’m proud to say that we use a relatively small part of the county’s tax budget. But when taken as a whole, and considering our significant public safety role and the money collected through title processing and the administration of court costs, fees and fines, we are one of the larger countywide public offices,” he said.
Smith said his first goal is to improve services and functions so that the public, judges and legal practitioners “all wake up one morning and suddenly realize the Clerk’s Office integrates much more seamlessly into their modern digital lives.”
Reduction in paper usage and automation of small, routine tasks are also priorities for greater efficiency and to save public dollars, he said.
Smith earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and law degree from Northern Kentucky University. He has experience managing a law firm, formerly served on Lebanon City Council and most recently was chairman of the Warren County Republican Party. He stepped down from that role before becoming Clerk of Courts. He was the first Black man selected to lead the county GOP and first elected to a countywide office.
“I believe my election as your countywide Clerk of Courts and as chairman of the Warren County Republican Party were notable because of how generally uncontroversial my candidacies were,” Smith said. “That is a testament to the values of the great people of Warren County.
Smith said he’s been an outspoken figure in Warren County since 2016, with consistent conservative positions that are well known.
“There will always be tough challenges and work to do in bridging divides and bringing different people together,” Smith said. “But the wonderful people of Warren County didn’t oppress me because of my ethnicity or my skin color. Instead, they support me because they like the things that actually make me who I am — things like my record, my character and my principles — and they gifted me the privilege of leadership based on those things alone.”
Smith said he is a man of faith who admires political figures like John Locke, George Washington, Frederick Douglass and Ronald Reagan.
“However, the people I personally know who most inspired me to serve in public office are my parents,” Smith said. “They immigrated to America from Jamaica in the 1970s, got married here and started their family here. And even though they came from a beautiful island paradise, they taught me from a young age that I was blessed to live in America, the greatest country on Earth. … Through public service, I hope to preserve that promise of America for future generations.”
Smith said what drew he and his wife, Stephanie, to Warren County are its classic American values and small-town feel, juxtaposed with a large and growing economy and great amenities.
“I’m obviously partial, but Warren County has it all!”
Credit: Breighton And Basette Photograph
Credit: Breighton And Basette Photograph
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