Brandy Johnson, Seward County Deputy Clerk for the past nine years, has been appointed to complete the term of Sherry Schweitzer, who retired Oct. 3.
The Seward County Commissioners on Oct. 7 appointed Johnson as the interim clerk to fulfill the term Schweitzer was elected to in 2022. The position will be on the Seward County ballot in 2026, with the current term ending Jan. 7, 2027.
The commissioners had several applicants for the position and interviewed three candidates, including Johnson, before making the appointment.
Johnson, who is originally from Mankato, Kansas, joined the Seward County clerk’s office in April 2016, at a point when Schweitzer was rehiring for all other positions in the office. Johnson had been working in the county clerk’s office in Christian County, Missouri, when her husband, Jerod Johnson, had an opportunity to return Duncan Aviation.
They had lived in the area when he worked at Duncan previously, and Brandy Johnson studied early childhood development at Southeast Community College.
“I went to school in Lincoln, and I love it here,” Johnson said.
Because the clerk’s office needed help immediately, she moved to Utica while her husband stayed the remainder of the school year in Missouri with their two sons. They lived in Waco for a time before finding a house to buy in Utica.
Their sons, Lane, 16, and Hayden, 12, attend Centennial Schools
Before moving to Missouri, Brandy Johnson worked for four years in the register of deeds office in Jewell County, Kansas, her home county, and also worked in the Jewell County treasurer’s office.
Within about six months of starting her job in Seward, Johnson was named deputy clerk.
She loves working in the county clerk’s office.
“A lot of county workers show up and do their work and they go home,” she said, “They don’t get that interaction we do.”
She enjoys helping her county colleagues who come in to submit bills to be paid or insurance claims and enjoys her until-now-occasional work with the Seward County Board of Commissioners. She has filled in for Schweitzer when needed to take notes and prepare agendas and keep minutes for the commissioners’ meetings.
Johnson also enjoys working with the Seward County residents who come into the clerk’s office for various transactions, and she loves Election Day.
Whether it is registering candidates, preparing poll workers, or assisting early voters coming in prior to Election Day, Johnson likes the engagement and excitement of elections.
“It’s so fun for me to get to work with all these different people,” she said.
Johnson has worked with the county’s accounts payable in recent years, and looks forward to continuing work with Tracy Phillips, who is deputy clerk for elections, and Emily Hanks who registers deeds.
She will soon be posting her accounts payable position.
Johnson said Schweitzer walked her through the last special election and often used her as an editor on county documents, believing two sets of eyes were better than one for proofing.
She also had Johnson prepare the preliminary documents for the county’s 2025-26 tax levy schedule, which is to be put to the county commissioners acting as the Seward County Board of Equalization on Oct. 14. For that task, Johnson did the prep and Schweitzer provided the second set of eyes.
“She knows so much,” Johnson said of Schweitzer. “She just leaves such big shoes to fill.”
Johnson looks forward to the 2026 elections, but will have a decidedly different experience as a candidate for a full term as clerk.
She said she intends to file as a candidate for Seward County clerk after filings officially begin on Jan. 5.
