Grand Traverse County appoints Samuel Gedman as new county clerk

Grand Traverse County’s clerk’s office, the hub for elections, vital records and marriage licenses, is staying in familiar hands after the 13th Circuit Court judges appointed Samuel R. Gedman to replace Bonnie Scheele.

The appointment matters because the clerk is one of the county’s most public-facing offices. Grand Traverse County says the clerk handles birth and death records, marriage licenses, concealed pistol licenses, notary bonds and veteran’s peddler permits, while also serving as clerk to the 13th Circuit Court and the County Board of Commissioners. The office also manages voter registration, absentee voting information, election-day operations and training for election workers in smaller communities under 10,000 residents.

Scheele announced she will retire effective June 19 after more than four decades in public service. She has served as Grand Traverse County clerk since 2013, after starting county work in June 1986 in the Friend of the Court Office and becoming chief deputy county clerk in 1997. Her tenure covered changing election laws, new technology and rising pressure for transparency and service.

Gedman had already been serving as the county’s chief deputy clerk and elections manager for six years. He has overseen elections in Mississippi, North Carolina and Michigan, earned a PhD in political science from the University of Mississippi and has held local civic roles as board secretary for the Traverse Area District Library and treasurer for the City of Traverse City Youth Football Association. That background signals continuity in an office where daily operations affect everything from marriage licenses to ballot processing.

Under Michigan law, a vacancy in the county clerk’s office is filled by appointment from the judge or judges of the judicial circuit. The Michigan Constitution also places the county clerk in the role of circuit court clerk for counties organized for judicial purposes, which helps explain why the 13th Circuit Court judges made the appointment. Grand Traverse County says the clerk is elected to a four-year term, but this vacancy will be filled by appointment until the next election cycle in November 2028.

For residents, the practical question is what changes, if any, will reach the Governmental Center in Traverse City. The answer for now is stability. Grand Traverse County’s election system depends on the clerk, the chief judge of probate and the county treasurer, who together make up the Grand Traverse Election Commission. County materials show how important that stability has become: during the 2024 general election, more than 15,000 early votes were cast countywide. Gedman now inherits an office that sits at the center of that trust.