The Town of Lexington has a new municipal clerk who hopes to streamline town processes.

At its regular Jan. 2, Lexington Town Council voted to hire Laura Hinson, who has been with the town for nearly seven years, to fill the role of former municipal clerk Becky Hildebrand, who retired after 20 years in the job.

While it is not set in stone, Hinson looks to assume her new role Jan. 22.

“The Municipal Clerk is the liaison between the Mayor and Town Council and their constituents,” the town’s website details. “The Municipal Clerk is also the custodian of the Town's legislative records and historical documents and liaison to all Boards and Commissions and the Town Election process. The Municipal Clerk and the Assistant Municipal Clerk are responsible for attending all official Town meetings to record the proceedings and file minutes, ordinances, resolutions, annexations, proclamations, petitions, and other legal documents.”

Hinson told the Chronicle that finding out she had earned the position was exciting, expressing that she has already been a part of the town's staff and will look to continue to grow and progress her career.

She explained that the role of municipal clerk itself can vary between municipalities, saying that for Lexington, she will be one of the main record keeping sources, ensuring procedures are followed and serving both council and town citizens.

According to Hinson, her time in the transportation department for the town and planning and zoning for Lexington County, where she served for 4 years, has led her to have a handle on areas of importance to the town when it comes to traffic and growth.

“This is an area that I grew up in as a native and I feel that each role that I was in has shown me, you know, to be part of the growth of the town, not just the town of Lexington but the Midlands,” she said. “I want to continue to be a part of that and continue to be able to talk to our citizens and also serve our council who've always been very supportive and continue to be welcoming to new ideas and changes going into this role.”

One of the goals that she shared with the Chronicle is to aid in streamlining the process for Town Council meeting minutes, leaning on her past experiences using updated software at previous jobs.

Hinson added that recently elected Mayor Hazel Livingston and council seem very open to exploring new avenues and hearing the ideas of all town staff.

“I’ve researched uses that can help streamline that process for us,” the new municipal clerk said. “Not only streamline it for the town staff and council but also streamline and in a format that the public and citizens will be able to view”