Shaw becomes top court administrator

PALMER -- Teresa Shaw, currently co-chief deputy clerk for the Palmer courts, will take over as clerk of court on Tuesday.

Shaw has worked for years with retiring clerk of court Jackie Allen, and her promotion ensures the courthouse routine will continue without a hitch.

"I've been her right-hand person for so long," Shaw said. "We like the way the system out here is run."

She was hired on a temporary basis by the Anchorage court system in 1982. Shaw's project was to go through old exhibits and return them to people involved in previous court cases, some of which had been closed for many years.

It was "dusty work," she said, and required her to develop a detective's investigative skills because many of the people she sought had moved far away.

She took a permanent position microfilming court documents after that, and worked on Anchorage appeals cases before moving to the Valley to become civil clerk. Wednesday marks Shaw's 19th year at the Palmer courthouse.

Her husband, Jim, works for Matanuska Telephone Association. Their adult sons Joseph, Jonah and Jacob all live in Alaska.

Shaw joked that she's nervous about taking the job, especially since she's replacing someone as talented as Allen. But Shaw is looking forward to another challenge in the career she loves.

"I've always wanted a job that's not just a paycheck," Shaw said. "I like the variety and the people I work with. We're like a family here."