MOULTRIE, Ga. — Donna Wilson has served the City of Moultrie for almost 30 years, 22 of that in the Moultrie Municipal Court. She’s ready to continue serving Colquitt County in a greater capacity as its Clerk of Court.

A self-proclaimed people person, Wilson knows that there’s a plethora of different people in Colquitt County. Her experience has taught her that every court case is different too, that’s why her stance is on adaptability.

“I think we should be adaptable to each situation and deal with each situation on a case by case basis,” she said. “We need to be able to serve you just as easy and efficiently as another individual who may need something totally different.

A New York native, Donna Wilson grew up with a tight-knit family in the city of Mount Vernon. She attended private schools up until high school at which point she began attending public school at Mount Vernon High School. 

Denzel Washington grew up there too, she’ll tell those that listen.

Shortly after, in 1984 she came to Colquitt County  to visit her father. That short visit turned into an extended stay and eventually a total move after meeting her husband, Mike, that year and marrying him in 1986.

“We own a small plumbing company here, Mike Wilson Plumbing Company, and we’ve been serving Colquitt County for almost 30 years with our plumbing service,” she said.

But moving to Colquitt County was a culture shock at first. Over time, she grew to love the community within.

“I love the farmland, I love the way we were able to access fresh vegetables so readily — things like that caught my attention,” she said. “And of course, I met my husband.”

She made Colquitt County her home, so the next step was serving that community because it deserved to be. 

So, she joined the Sheriff’s Office and made it a point to learn everything she could, starting in dispatch and ending out by working in the  jail. 

Wilson moved to the Moultrie Police Department after that in 1992 and then to the Municipal Court in 1998. She’s spent a total of 28 years with the city of Moultrie.

Outside of work, she’s served almost 20 years on the Humane Society’s board — homeless animals are something dear to her heart — and she’s served on the Serenity House and Crossroad Mission boards.

She likes positive change and considers it her motto, that’s why she attempts to enact it.

In 2014, Wilson decided to go back to school and attained an associate’s degree in criminal justice in 2016 and a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership in 2016 from Valdosta State University.

“I love to learn and I feel that I want to learn all I can in order to serve the community as good as I can serve them,” she said.

That being the case, she feels that all she’s learned over her years in Colquitt County will help her run as its Clerk of Court successfully. It’s not just something she thought about overnight.

If elected, she plans to have better communication between city and county entities, and implement more etiquette and diversity training.

Wilson said she isn’t saying that the current clerk and her staff aren’t providing good etiquette and are lacking in diversity training; rather, it’s just about being adaptable and up to date among the support team.

“Without a support team, the individual or whoever is in office is nothing,” she said. “I won’t do it alone. I’m a team player so if I’m elected I can get in there and do my best to run those three courts along with my support team like a well-oiled machine.”