Colquitt County officials are looking to fill two of the top county administration positions with the recent announcement that 21-year County Clerk Deborah Murkerson is retiring.

County Administrator Mike Stewart, who himself recently announced he was leaving, said Thursday that he likely will interview prospective candidates next week.

“I’d like to go ahead and try to find someone,” he said. “Obviously I would like to get someone in to work with her as long as possible before she leaves.”

Murkerson’s last day is May 1, and after a month’s vacation her official retirement date is June 1. In addition to serving as county clerk, she also has served as human resources director since 2010.

Murkerson, who has worked for the county for more than 31 years, part of that time in the Colquitt County Magistrate Court office, will be hard to replace, Stewart said.

Stewart sent Colquitt County commissioners a resignation letter in mid-February.

Although he had intended to leave at the end of the May, he said that at the request of Commission Chairman Benny Alderman he has agreed to remain through the end of June to work on finding replacements for himself and Murkerson.

The clerk’s job was advertised internally and applications were accepted through this week. The county also has advertised for the administrator’s job.

Stewart said he also said he is working on the 2014-2015 county budget, for which departmental requests are due on Monday.

Stewart said he has been impressed since he began working with Murkerson in 1997 while employed with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

“I always thought she was the top, or at least one of the top, county clerks in the state,” he said. “She makes the toughest job in the county look easy.

“This county is going to miss her and what she’s brought to the county. She’s a master of efficient administration.”

Murkerson said Thursday that she and husband Jerry are moving to Blakely, where he will be a full-time church pastor.

“I’m going to be starting a whole new life,” Murkerson said. “I don’t think it (retirement) really hit me until some of them told me they were going to throw a retirement party for me.”

Murkerson, who was County Clerk of the Year for 2005-2006 and served as secretary, vice president and in 1999 as president of the Georgia County Clerks Association, said that she has enjoyed her work with the county.

“I got to do everything I wanted to do and meet people all over the state,” she said. “It’s been wonderful, and I’m going to miss it.”

A lot has changed since Murkerson began working in the position. The county’s administration offices have been moved from the old Vereen Memorial Hospital on South Main Street. That building has since been razed and the City of Moultrie is building a park there.

Now the county’s offices are in the Colquitt County Courthouse Annex across the street from the courthouse building.

“When I first started working here there was one copier in the whole courthouse,” Murkerson said. “Now every office has its own fax machine and copier. I worked back when we had a county volleyball team and we played the city and they beat the tar out of us.

“It’s (leaving) going to be hard, it really is.”

In a recent letter announcing that he will not be seeking reelection, Alderman praised Murkerson.

“Commissioners and administrators may come and go, but Deborah Murkerson has been the one constant,” the letter said. “She is a wonderful individual who does an outstanding job as county clerk. Wes will miss her when she leaves.”