{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Tonet Griggs","chatgptsummary":"Tonet Griggs brings eighteen years of deputy clerk service and four years as Hardeman County Clerk, demonstrating direct experience in high-volume public operations, statutory administration of marriage licenses, and financial controls for fee collection. In September 2025, the Tennessee Comptroller found she unlawfully charged $60 officiating fees to 219 couples between 2022 and 2024, collecting over $13,000 before reimbursing the county after acknowledging prior legal training. Bio does not indicate experience in motor-vehicle registration or business-tax administration.","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nTonet Griggs is the incumbent Hardeman County Clerk and the Democratic Party nominee for re-election in the August 6, 2026 county general election, facing Republican nominee John Vickers [1][2].\n\n## Office history and career\nGriggs was elected Hardeman County Clerk in August 2022 and previously worked as a deputy clerk in the office for 18 years [3].\n\n## Documented disputes and controversies\nIn September 2025, the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury reported that Griggs had unlawfully charged couples a $60 fee to officiate weddings at the clerk's office. Investigators found she collected approximately $13,140 from at least 219 marriage ceremonies between September 2022 and July 2024, which represented about 56% of all couples obtaining marriage licenses in the county during that period [4][5]. Tennessee law allows county clerks to accept voluntary gratuities for performing ceremonies but prohibits charging a fee; the Comptroller stated that Griggs \"gave applicants no choice in paying her $60 officiating fee,\" and reported that she acknowledged being aware of and trained on the applicable law [4]. Griggs reimbursed the full $13,140 to the county's general trust fund in September 2025 [4].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Hardeman County Election Commission \u2014 Your Elected Officials](https://www.hardemanvotes.com/p/your-elected-officials.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[2] [Hardeman County Election Commission \u2014 August 6, 2026 Official Sample Ballot](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AhunmX4xEaSVTC0sXKimbLDC-E1NLTxH/view) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[3] [Tonet Griggs \u2014 County Clerk (UT CTAS)](https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/official/tonet-griggs) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[4] [Investigation reveals county clerk charged at least 219 couples an illegal 'officiating fee' (Action News 5)](https://www.actionnews5.com/2025/09/18/investigation-reveals-that-county-clerk-charged-least-219-couples-an-illegal-officiating-fee/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[5] [Comptroller: Hardeman Co. clerk charged unlawful fees for officiating weddings (WREG)](https://wreg.com/news/mid-south/comptroller-hardeman-co-clerk-charged-unlawful-fees-for-officiating-weddings/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22","firstname":"Tonet","lastname":"Griggs","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"2nmYcoRmeY"},"token":"tonet_griggs"},{"candidatename":"John Vickers","chatgptsummary":"John Vickers's biography shows current service as a county commissioner, indicating experience in local governance and public administration relevant to managing high-volume office operations. The record contains no documented controversies or disciplinary actions. Bio does not indicate specific experience with motor-vehicle registration statutes or financial controls for fee collection.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJohn Vickers is the Republican Party nominee for Hardeman County Clerk in the August 6, 2026 county general election, running against Democratic incumbent Tonet Griggs [1].\n\n## Office history\nVickers currently serves as Hardeman County Commissioner for District 6 [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Hardeman County Election Commission \u2014 August 6, 2026 Official Sample Ballot](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AhunmX4xEaSVTC0sXKimbLDC-E1NLTxH/view) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[2] [Hardeman County Election Commission \u2014 Your Elected Officials](https://www.hardemanvotes.com/p/your-elected-officials.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22","firstname":"John","lastname":"Vickers","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"y5T2zJ2l85"},"token":"john_vickers"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_clerk","o.office":null,"office":"county_clerk","officedescription":"The county clerk handles a broad set of public transactions and records: marriage and business licenses, motor-vehicle titling and registration, notary commissions, and the official minutes of the county commission. It is a high-volume administrative and records office.","officequalities":"- Administration of motor-vehicle registration, license plates, marriage licenses, and business-tax registrations \u2014 a high-volume, public-facing operation.\n- Working knowledge of the Tennessee statutes governing each of those functions, which change regularly.\n- Customer-service capacity: the clerk's office is one of the most-visited county offices by ordinary residents.\n- Financial controls for collecting state and local fees and remitting them accurately.\n- Supervision of office staff handling high transaction volume, and technology and process management as more services move online.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Clerk","partisan":1,"pgr":"primary","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-20","title":"hardeman County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1AhunmX4xEaSVTC0sXKimbLDC-E1NLTxH"},"title":"County Clerk"}