Jonette Curry has served as Knox County's auditor since 2009. She has worked in the office since 1985. Curry will retire Friday after nearly 38 years with the county.
Jonette Curry has served as Knox County's auditor since 2009. She has worked in the office since 1985. Curry will retire Friday after nearly 38 years with the county.
MOUNT VERNON — Jonette Curry still remembers the phone call that started it all.
It was from her intensive office education teacher at Fredericktown High School, Betty Weller. It was the spring of 1985, and Curry was preparing to graduate.
"She called me up and said, 'Bill Moody has an opening at the county,'" Curry recalled, referencing the former Knox County auditor. "'Would you be interested in interviewing?'"
Curry wasn't sure. So, she went to another trusted source.
"I talked to my dad," she recalled. "And he said, 'What've you got to lose? At least go for the interview.'"
She did. And after being called back for a second round, she was hired that summer.
Curry began in the office on July 23, 1985 – she still remembers the date – and she hasn't looked back.
She'll retire Friday after nearly 38 years of service with the county.
"She’s knowledgeable, she knows her job well, and certainly, she’s trustworthy. You can go to her and work out issues," County Administrator Jason Booth said in an interview last spring.
"So in that respect, I think everyone is going to (miss her) and it will be an adjustment not having her down there. She’ll have been here 38 years – including 14 as the auditor – so that’s gonna be a big hole to fill."
A career of service
Curry began in the auditor's office at the age of 18.
She still remembers her first days on the job – executing property transfers, selling dog tags and assisting with customer service, among other tasks.
Each day was different than the last, Curry explained. And despite her ascent over the last four decades, Curry claims that aspect of the job hasn't changed.
"It’s still the same," she said. "We’re all-hands-on-deck."
Curry eventually handled Knox County's personal property tax, which all county businesses had to file. Curry was the only employee in the office to handle the tax, which was eventually phased out in 2008.
"When all those filings came in, they had to be checked, entered into our system, and then the tax had to be collected, and there was a billing cycle to go through if they didn’t pay it all up-front," Curry explained. "So there were several hundred, if not thousands, of forms that got filed for this tax."
Curry filled various other roles during her first 24 years on the job. She assisted with the county budget and payroll, handled the county's insurance, completed deed transfers and more.
She served as a chief deputy for three different auditors – Moody, a Republican; Bob Jones, a Democrat; and Margaret Ann Ruhl, a Republican – before stepping into the head role in 2009, when Ruhl left the office after being elected to the Ohio House of Representatives.
Knox County Auditor Jonette Curry works at her desk in April 2022.
Curry, a Republican, ran unopposed for auditor three times – in 2010, 2014 and 2018 – serving 14 consecutive years as the county's chief fiscal officer.
"My responsibility is to make sure all the county’s bills get paid and that our staff is doing things properly. We have to go through the state auditor’s office every year," Curry said.
"But we pay all the county’s bills. Millions of dollars come through this office and go out in payment every year. We handle all county payroll, county insurance; we process dog tags and real estate deed transfers; we handle tax exemptions. There are an array of items that come out of this small office, (making it) an important part of how the county operates."
As auditor, Curry said she's felt personally and professionally obligated to make sure the county handles its business the right way.
"My name is signed on all those documents, so we need to make sure they’re handled properly. ..." she said with a chuckle. "Transparency and accountability, that’s what we’re here for."
Passing the torch
Curry said she began thinking about retiring in November 2021, while attending the winter conference for Ohio's county auditors.
"One of the county auditors said, 'Who in the room is not running again?' And I couldn’t not put my hand up," Curry recalled with a chuckle. "At that point, I was still on the fence. ... But I put my hand up, and I thought, 'Well, I think I just answered my own question.'"
Curry, 56, said she simply wasn't willing to commit to four more years in-office. She wants to spend more time with her family, which she'll be able to do in retirement.
"It was probably more of a family decision," Curry said. "These gals here that I’ve worked with, we’ve worked together for so many years – some of us have spent 25-plus years together – so they’ve become my second family.
"But there are things my husband and I want to do, and you don’t know what tomorrow brings, so it’s just time to go do the things we want to do and enjoy spending time with our family. We have five grandkids, and we want to enjoy them as well before they grow up too fast."
Curry said she told her staff when she returned from the conference that this would be her last term. She asked around internally to see if anyone wanted to run to take her place. Two months later, Deputy Auditor Sarah Thorne decided to throw her hat in the ring.
"In January, Sarah said she'd be on-board with running," Curry said. "I focused all my support towards her at that point, so she could (meet the February filing deadline)."
Knox County Auditor Jonette Curry (right) and Deputy Auditor Sarah Thorne (left).
Thorne, 46, has served as deputy auditor for the last five years. She said it only felt right to take the next step when the opportunity presented itself.
"When I went to school, I wanted to be an auditor. I didn't realize what degree that meant for me, and I feel like this is where everything has pulled me to," said Thorne, a graduate of Mount Vernon High School and Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
"I love my job and what I do. I'm willing to fill Jonette's shoes when she goes and hopefully keep up the good work."
Thorne, a Republican, ran unopposed for auditor in 2022. Curry said she feels comfortable passing the torch to Thorne, given her age and the training she's received in the office over the last half-decade.
"So many of our staff members have been here for so long, it wouldn’t make sense for a well-seasoned employee to take the position so close to retirement age," Curry said. "(Sarah) came in here and I have been able to train her in several positions in the office, similar to what I did (before becoming auditor)."
Thorne said Curry has spent the last year helping her get acclimated to her new role. She will take over Monday as the county's CFO.
"She's been a great teacher. She takes lots of notes and has shown me where everything's at in the file," Thorne said of Curry. "We want it to be a smooth transition. It'll be good."
A lasting legacy
Sitting in her office Wednesday, it still hadn't hit Curry that Friday would be her last day.
"I know I keep saying, 'It's real now,' but to me it's just ... I mean, I've been doing this for almost 38 years, coming in every day. So I don't know. Monday will feel weird. Hopefully I won't wake up and think that I have to go to work," Curry said with a laugh. "But I don't know. I think Friday it will hit, obviously."
Plenty has changed in the auditor's office over the last four decades, Curry said. Technological advancements have allowed employees to work quicker and cover more ground.
"We did so much stuff manually because we didn’t have, starting off, all the software and technology to use. Of course, our back-up systems changed over the years. But technology has been the number one thing that has allowed us to do our jobs more efficiently and timely," Curry said.
"Back when we did everything manually, it just took a long time to do. We had to write everything in, rewrite it in the ledgers, and on the budgetary side, everything was done manually. Things have definitely changed with technology over the years."
This theme continued into Curry's last year of work, when she led the installation of the county's new accounting payroll system. The system, which will go live March 31, will digitize and streamline the county's bill-paying process, making it more efficient and cost-effective.
"It's a big stepping stone," Curry said. "We've had two different vendors for several years, and this will be all under one vendor and the technology will be where it needs to be, up-to-date.
"(It was a) huge undertaking, but something that has been needed to take place."
Booth said Curry's willingness to take on this project during her last year as auditor speaks to her dedication to the county.
"I think that says a lot about her, that this is her last year and she’s still looking at ways to make her office more efficient and make operations of the county purchasing system and financial system smoother," Booth said.
"That says a lot, when you’re in your last year and you’re still looking at ways to be innovative and leave the office better than the way it was when you got in."
Systems and processes aside, what kind of legacy will Curry leave?
Booth, who has worked closely with her office over the last half-decade during the county's budgeting process, said the 14-year auditor has earned a reputation for being a high-level leader and collaborator.
He believes her institutional knowledge will be missed.
"She’s extremely knowledgeable, based on her years of service, and she’s developed a solid staff down there that knows their roles well. …" Booth said.
"They know their jobs well and she allows them to do their jobs. I think between that respect she’s earned and the continuity of the operation, she’s going to leave a strong office in-place for the new auditor to come in and take over."
Curry said her main goal has always been to do right by local taxpayers. She hopes she's accomplished that over the last 38 years.
"I think I’ve had a great working relationship with all of the county offices. I’ve tried to make sure that our constituents, the taxpayers of Knox County, are always taken care of," Curry said.
"And regardless of what happens, you have to make sure that you listen to them and then just try to make the best decision that you can when you’re in this position. Because you’re out there taking care of a lot of homeowners and you just want to make sure that you do the research, and you make sure you’re taking care of your constituents.
"At the end of the day, that’s what I feel was important in my job – that I was able to help somebody."
Grant is a 2018 graduate of Ohio Northern University, where he studied journalism and played basketball. He likes coffee, books and minor league baseball. He loves telling stories and has a passion for local news.
