Bishop, who previously served as chairman of the association's legislative committee, was elected to the position unanimously at last week's annual convention in Natchez. With the group's officers serving on a rotating basis, he will ascend to the office of vice president in 2010 and be named president in 2011.

"It's an honor to be elected by your peers," Bishop said. "I look forward to working with all the clerks around the state to determine what the issues are that affect chancery clerks, which will in turn affect the general population."

In his capacity as secretary/treasurer, Bishop will keep track of the association's legal and financial documents - a natural task for a chancery clerk. The real task in the coming years, he said, will be to work with the association's 81 other clerks and help determine direction for the future.

"The main thing you do is you listen to the association membership and try to determine what the needs are, the direction the association wants to go in," Bishop said. "You work very closely with the Legislature ... their vote determines not only the direction a group can go in, but also determines the future of the position. We work very closely with them to make sure they know how we feel on certain issues."

Bishop and other chancery clerks play an important role for the public.

Clerks are responsible for keeping county land records; serving as clerks for the chancery courts, boards of supervisors and youth courts; and all phases of civil commitments. The Legislature recently passed new laws that change document filing standards and procedures for committing patients to mental health facilities, he said.

The association reviews and briefs its members of such changes in policy, ensuring good public service.

Besides named duties, serving in so many capacities also places Bishop and his counterparts at the intersection of local information. They know their counties, through and through.

"The clerks may not be responsible for a particular function, but they need to know who is," Bishop said. "The general public will call the chancery clerk's office for information, and we need to be prepared to give it to them."

Murphy Adkins, executive director of the association, said Bishop has been a "real leader," especially while serving as legislative committee chairman last year, a job that required lots of time and travel.

"He was probably the go-to man in the association for legislation," he said. "He spent a lot of time on bills affecting chancery clerks and county government, and spent a lot of time up at the Capitol working on this."

Adkins predicted that Bishop would lead the association through major changes in document storage and technology over the next three years. He said states are trying to follow a federal precedent for filing court cases online, and better ways to file documents in county offices are always sought.

"That's another thing that's coming that will be right in the middle of all his three years serving," Adkins said.

Bishop is serving in his third term as Lincoln County chancery clerk. He has also served as executive vice president of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce and is a longtime participant in local economic development.