Gwen Tidwell, Hamilton County’s criminal court clerk, was telling a group of first graders about her job when hands started popping up. “Do you know my daddy? He was in your court,” some of the kids asked. Tidwell was heartbroken.
“All I could say was, ‘I don’t know your daddy, but I’m sure he’ll be okay,’” she says.
As clerk of Hamilton County’s criminal courts, Tidwell is responsible for keeping the courts’ records in order and in good condition. This is no small task, as the office handles about 50,000 filings a year, not counting pending cases. So, while she can’t remember all of the names and faces that come through her office, she does her best to keep everyone’s files straight.
Part and parcel to accomplishing this task is being open to changes that will improve the operations of the office. “I’m a good listener, and I’m not egotistical,” she says. “You’re not going to step on my toes and hurt my feelings, so you can suggest changes, and then we’ll pro and con them.”
Change has defined the 20 years Tidwell has served as criminal court clerk. When she took over the office in the early ‘90s, she immediately opened an office at the jail annex. This saved the police time and reduced the risk to the public involved in transporting inmates.
“When an arrest was made, the police would have to drive around Walnut Street and down 7th Avenue to the clerk’s office to finish the paperwork,” she says. “My opponent said opening an office at the annex would cost too much, but we just moved the staff and the equipment we were already using to the new location. It cost $1,500.”
Tidwell enjoys solving problems and implementing procedures that yield good results. For example, she’s also changed the filing system the office uses to reduce misfilings.
“We were losing paperwork because of the sheer volume of it,” she says. “So we started filing by court date instead of case number. We still had misfilings, but not as many.”
To further reduce misfilings, Tidwell’s office began imaging “everything.” This not only kept the number of times the physical files had to be removed and refiled to a minimum, but also saved her staff time, as they could pull up files on their computers. “The most important part of my job is keeping accurate records,” she says. “Imaging helps with that because it prevents misfilings.”
Tending to court documents might sound dull and tedious to some people, but Tidwell enjoys the work. “Every day is different,” she says. “Things here rarely get boring.”
Tidwell doesn’t stop working when she leaves the office. Rather, she continues to answer phone calls and respond to emails from the general public. “The clerk needs to stay in touch with the people he or she is dealing with,” she says, “whether it’s a mom, or grandmother, or child.”
Tidwell grew up in Hixson, Tenn., where she and her friends “ran wild.”
“We left home at daybreak and came home at dark. I had a wonderful childhood.”
She attended Girls Preparatory School, but didn’t care for the single-sex environment, so she talked her parents into letting her attend Hixson High School her junior and senior years. Tidwell then obtained a bachelor’s degree in animal science at Auburn University, Chattanooga State Community College, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “I wanted to be a large animal vet, which is unusual for a woman, but I love animals and farms,” she says.
Tidwell wasn’t able to get into the veterinary school she wanted to attend, though, so she became a lawyer instead. She earned her degree at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and then practiced law in Chattanooga for nine years. When Hamilton County’s circuit court clerk retired in 1992, a pair of judges talked her into taking the appointed position. She was pregnant, so relief from the rigors of practicing law appealed to her. “I preferred the administrative part of my work as an attorney to litigating,” she says. “I don’t like conflict; I want everyone to agree and be happy.”
When the criminal court clerk retired the following year, several people who felt Tidwell had done good work as circuit court clerk encourged her to run for the position.
“I had started making efforts that hadn’t been made before to collect monies people owed the county,” she says. “There were tens of thousands of unpaid parking tickets. Just from trying, we collected over a million dollars.”
Tidwell knew the criminal court clerk had a more demanding job, but she decided to “jump into the waters” anyway. She won, and she’s won four times since. She’s currently running for a sixth four-year term.
Tidwell says she doesn’t hold a political office, she has a “working job.” She also says she’s “anything but a politician,” so even her choice of party – she’s a Democrat – is more personal than political.
“Before 1994, I never gave much thought to whether I was Democratic, Republican, or independent. I voted for who I thought would do the best job,” she says. “In 1994, I had to choose. I put a lot of thought into it because I’d been raised by a very Republican mother and father and was married to a diehard Democrat.
“Because of my upbringing, I’m conservative with regard to finances – both with my own finances, to the exasperation of my sons, and with the finances of my office, to the annoyance of my staff.
“But I chose to be a Democrat mostly because of social issues. I believe we have a responsibility to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. I also believe love is a wonderful thing, and you’re blessed if you love someone and they love you, regardless of gender, race, or nationality. And while I believe in a nonintrusive government, I also believe in a government that takes care of its citizens, not just its corporations.
“That said, I’m a clerk, not a politician, and I neither care nor ask which party a lawyer, judge, or client belongs to. We treat everyone with the same courtesy and efficiency.”
Tidwell might not be a politician, but she’s far more than a clerk. She’s also a mother, a church member, and a servant of her community.
She’s been a member of the downtown Sertoma Club, served on the board of the Kidney Foundation, and is currently on the advisory board of the American Cancer Society. Tidwell is currently chairing the upcoming Relay for Life fundraiser for the latter. “That’s been a tremendous amount of work, but I’m a sucker for that,” she says. “I get bored easily, so I like to stay busy.”
When Tidwell does allow herself to slow down, she enjoys biking and riding horses. “When I get to the point where I want to beat my head against a wall, I hit the woods,” she says, laughing.
Tidwell also spends time with her three sons, who were 2, 4, and 6 when she became criminal court clerk, and are now 22, 24, and 26. “They grew up with me being in this office,” she says, looking at a collection of family photographs on a shelf in her office.
Tidwell lives on Signal Mountain and attends St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
As Tidwell campaigns in advance of the primary election on May 6, in which she faces Democratic opponent Brian White, she hopes the residents of the county will consider her record of service on their behalf. “When you’re looking for someone to do a job, you look at their experience and how good of a fit they’d be. I hope that’s what people consider this year – my history here and what I’ve done.”.