[Editor’s note: This story has been corrected from its original publication to reflect that Dorianne Woods served as clerk in the Justice Court from 2007 to 2009. She then worked as deputy to then District Court Clerk Marilyn Craft until Craft’s 2016 retirement. Woods was elected court clerk that year, and reelected in 2020.]
After a eight-year run as Court Clerk to the Fifth Judicial court, Dorianne Woods is retiring at the end of March.
“It’s all about helping people,” said Woods. “We can’t give out legal advice, but we help show people the way.”
Woods’ service to the justice system began as an emergency dispatcher in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. She became a Sheriff’s administrator, then took a job with a Helena law firm. Her time with a private legal team gave her a different perspective of the justice system, she says. “I really loved the work there, but couldn’t make that drive over the hill anymore.”
Woods returned to Boulder in 2007, where she began her work as clerk for the Justice Court. She then worked as deputy to then District Court Clerk Marilyn Craft until Craft’s 2016 retirement. Woods was elected court clerk that year, and reelected in 2020.
The District Court clerk manages not just the courtroom and juries for Fifth District Court Judge Luke Berger, but also has many other public interfaces, such as investigating property easement records and helping people get their passports.
Woods hopes to complete the Court’s record digitization project before leaving office. The project will transfer a significant volume of documents to a searchable, online database, making research more accessible to Court employees. While the tool will not be publicly available, it will greatly improve the Court’s ability to find and provide requested documents.
“The record books are magnificent and very detailed,” said Woods. “Records were not always maintained the same way over the years, so sometimes there are discrepancies. There are also some privacy issues there. Adoption records and things like that. We have to be careful with what information is released.”
Woods says she will miss helping people out with official courthouse matters, and how she and her deputy, Katherine Stein, have listened to public problems and tried to provide direction. But this is, she says, a good time to retire. “I know I’m leaving it in good hands,” she said, “but now I just want to sit on the porch and watch the Elkhorns for a while.”
At its Feb. 6 meeting, the Jefferson County Commission named Deanna Brulla to fill out Woods’ four-year term. A successor will be elected this November.
