Katelyn Thomas, chief deputy city clerk and treasurer for North Little Rock, has received a certified municipal clerk designation through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.
To earn this designation, a municipal clerk must be an active member of the institute for two years, earn 60 points in the education category and 50 points in the experience category.
Thomas has attended district workshops, annual conferences and institutes, and completed Arkansas Municipal League courses and International Institute of Municipal Clerks online courses.
In 2021, she hosted a district workshop virtually and taught classes to other professionals on business licenses and regulations.
Thomas has also served on the Arkansas City Clerks, Recorders and Treasurers Association website and Facebook committee for three years.
"You pour a lot of your time and a lot of it is your own time outside of working hours, if you want to make sure you get these points and be able to submit your application you have to work pretty hard for it," she explained.
Thomas said it's a big accomplishment to receive the title next to her name because she's poured so much of herself into the profession.
"It's not just for me personally or just to have a title," she said. "It's to give back to the residents and community too because they rely on us to be transparent and have a collaboration with each other and part of that is us knowing what's going on with the local government, what we are and aren't enforcing and being able to convey that to them."
Thomas previously worked for the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum. When Diane Whitbey, North Little Rock city clerk and treasurer, was looking for a deputy clerk, Thomas immediately applied and was hired.
"I really look forward to learning more, my next step is getting the master municipal clerk title, so I'm going to be pouring even more of my time to learning and getting those credentials," she said.