County Officials Sworn In

Our shared legacy of representative governance moved forward on its way today with the swearing-in ceremony of two Logan County commissioners, a new county assessor, and a county associate district judge at the Logan County Courthouse.

County Commissioners Mark Sharpton for District 1 and Monty Piearcy for District 3 were sworn in for their districts. Also, Mary Murphey was sworn in as new county assessor, taking over for Wayne Murphey. Finally, Judge Louis “Luke” Duel was sworn in for another term as associate district judge.

Longtime Guthrie resident and former district judge Robert L. Hudson administered the oaths in the main courtroom packed with friends and family of the officeholders. He opened with remarks emphasizing our country’s long history of representative governance, and the importance of that representative philosophy against the idea of popular vote alone in community decision-making. He also admonished the office holders to “stay humble” and acknowledge their important position as public servants first. “Not a boss or a tyrant,” Hudson said, “but a true servant. It’s a big thing to get up there and be willing to make the decisions and take the criticism, and it’s getting tougher to find people willing to step up.”

Sharpton, Piearcy, and Murphey were sworn in together by Hudson, and Judge Duel was sworn in separately, due to his separate role as well as his ongoing recovery from surgery.

After the ceremony, Piearcy and Sharpton drew laughter with their accounts of their first experiences being sworn into office. Sharpton: “I was so nervous that my hand was shaking while I was taking my oath. It almost looked like I was waving, it was shaking so bad.” Piearcy followed up: “I could barely speak to recite my oath, I was so nervous.”