PHOTO BY DONNA CAMPBELL Lincoln County Deputy Circuit Clerk Jacqueline Bates, left, will serve as interim circuit clerk following the appointment of Circuit Clerk Dustin Bairfield as Brookhaven’s chief of police last week. A special election for the circuit clerk seat is set for Nov. 4. Qualifying began Monday, July 7.

A special election is set for Nov. 4 to fill the seat of circuit clerk in Lincoln County left vacant when the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen named Dustin Bairfield as the first appointed chief of police for the city.

Qualifying for the election began Monday, July 7, and will end Aug. 21. Statements of Intent are available in the Circuit Clerk’s office upstairs in the Lincoln County/Brookhaven Government Complex.

Candidates in special elections run independently without party affiliation. The applicant must be a qualified elector of Lincoln County and be a resident for two years on the day before the election.

Independent candidates must file a Statement of Intent and a petition containing signatures of not less than 50 qualified electors of Lincoln County. They must also pay a $100 qualifying fee to the county through the circuit clerk’s office.

To be qualified for election to the office of circuit clerk, the applicant cannot have a conviction of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, defined as a crime punishable by confinement in the penitentiary; cannot have a conviction of a felony in federal court after Dec. 8, 1992, nor of a crime in the court of another state which is a felony in this state, after Dec. 8, 1992, and must meet all constitutional, statutory and other legal requirements to hold the office.

Bairfield recommended Deputy Clerk Jacqueline Bates to serve as interim and she was sworn in to uphold those duties on July 2, pending approval by the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors. They voted unanimously for Bates on Monday, July 7, during their regular meeting.