Jean Alberico, who has worked in the Garfield County Clerk’s Office for going on 40 years, including four terms as the elected clerk and recorder, plans to retire after this year’s election.

“I’ll be 70 in August and will reach full retirement age, so I decided this will be it, and it’s time to go on to the next phase of my life,” Alberico said.

Alberico, a Democrat from Carbondale, joined the office under former longtime Republican Clerk and Recorder Mildred Alsdorf in 1982. She was elected clerk and recorder in 2006 when Alsdorf retired.

The decision by Alberico not to seek reelection leaves the office wide open in this year’s county elections. So far, no candidates, Democrat, Republican or otherwise, have registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

In addition to clerk and recorder, the offices of county assessor, treasurer, sheriff, coroner, surveyor and the District 1 county commissioner seat are up for election in November.

Ahead of that, county party caucuses and assemblies are slated for March and April to nominate candidates for the June 28 primary or the general election ballot.

Alberico said she is preparing information about how to become a candidate for the respective offices, and the specific requirements for clerk and recorder, to put on her office’s website.

In addition to overseeing elections at the county level and in coordination with other local jurisdictions, the clerk and recorder handles motor vehicle registration and titling, records real estate transactions, and handles marriage licenses, birth and death records, among other duties.

“When I started here, I thought it would be a stopgap job … but I found I really enjoyed the work, and working with the people of Garfield County, solving peoples’ problems and helping them out,” Alberico said.

Elections in particular have evolved significantly since she first started with the office, moving from every other year to annually, and then from polling place voting to mail ballots.

“It is a lot more complex now,” she said. “But I think we do an amazing job of registering people and allowing them to vote in this state.”

Alberico said it’s frustrating to hear comments at the state and national level about rampant voter fraud and “stolen elections.”

“That’s just not the case,” she said.

Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or jstroud@postindependent.com.