Growing up on a Coffey County farm, Patty Jaimes never dreamed of becoming a county clerk.

Fascinated by western movies, Jaimes, 63, dreamed of being cowgirl star Dale Evans as a child.

“But, of course, that changed as I got older,” she recalled.

After 24 years, Jaimes’ tenure as Douglas County Clerk will end today when newly elected Jamie Shew is sworn into office. Jaimes opted to retire after six consecutive terms.

“I thought about not running again in 2000, but the staff talked me into it,” Jaimes said of her near-brush with retirement four years ago. “But this feels right.”

When Jaimes was sworn into office in 1981, the clerk’s office handled the county’s payroll and paid the bills — something it no longer does.

As clerk she has also been Douglas County’s chief elections officer and watched ballots shrink from several pieces of paper to one. The Help America Vote Act has brought new regulations, including getting proper identification from first-time voters and making sure all polling sites comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Jaimes said she thought more changes were on the way for the clerk’s office.

She predicted that Douglas County’s continuing growth would mean it will soon have an election commissioner.

The Kansas Secretary of State appoints election commissioners to counties with a population exceeding 130,000.

The 2000 U.S. Census showed Douglas County had a population of about 100,000.

Jaimes also predicted the job of county clerk would cease to be an elected position in Douglas County, instead becoming the job of a hired professional working under the county administrator, who answers to the elected members of the county commission.

“I don’t like the idea of it,” she said. “I think people should have the opportunity to select who serves them.”

Jaimes moved to Douglas County after she graduated from Waverly High School in Waverly in 1959. She lived with extended family and took a job with Hallmark Cards Inc. Eventually, she went to work in the county clerk’s office.

She said in some ways she was tricked into running for county clerk in 1980.

“But I really enjoyed it once I got into it,” she said. “Especially during the elections with the adrenaline running. It was a lot of fun.”

But the excitement surrounding election time faded in 2004 for Jaimes. “There was too much hatred,” she said. “At least that’s the way it came across.”