A Special Appreciation for the Montgomery County Probate Office

Guest Opinion by Perry Hooper Jr.

The Montgomery County Probate Office has always meant more to me than simply another branch of local government. It is part of my family’s history, and it is an office I grew up respecting because I saw firsthand how much responsibility comes with serving the people who depend on it.

My father, Perry O. Hooper Sr., was elected Montgomery County Probate Judge in November 1964 and served from 1965 until 1974. He was reelected in 1970, and during his tenure his fellow probate judges from across Alabama elected him president of the Alabama Probate Judges Association. In 1974, the people of Montgomery County elected him circuit judge, beginning the next chapter of a judicial career that would ultimately take him to the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Those years in the Probate Office were an important part of my father’s life and an important part of mine. I watched him deal with the everyday responsibilities of public service and learned early that the work of a probate judge affects people at some of the most important moments of their lives. It taught me that good government is not always about speeches or headlines. Very often, it is about whether an office works, whether people are treated with respect and whether the person in charge understands that public office is a public trust.

Because of that background, I probably pay closer attention to the Montgomery County Probate Office than most people do. I understand how demanding the job can be, how broad its responsibilities are and how much good leadership matters. That is why I have been impressed with the job Judge J.C. Love III and his team are doing today.

The Probate Office touches the lives of Montgomery County residents in countless ways. Vehicle tags, driver license services, marriage records, estates, adoptions, guardianships, business licenses, land records and elections are all part of its responsibilities. Most citizens do not think about the Probate Office until they need it, but when they do, they want the same things all of us want from government: efficiency, professionalism, courtesy and results.

Judge Love understands that. Since taking office, he has placed a strong emphasis on modernizing services and making government more convenient for the people it serves. Electronic filing, online services, renewal reminders, expanded kiosk options and other technology improvements have helped move the office forward while making routine business easier for citizens.

My father served in a very different era, long before smartphones, online renewals and electronic filing. The technology has changed dramatically, but the principle behind the office has not changed at all. A probate judge is there to serve the people, and every improvement should be measured by whether it helps citizens receive better service.

That is what I see Judge Love trying to accomplish. He has also understood that technology should never replace personal service. A well-run public office still depends on good employees who know their jobs, care about the people they serve and understand that the issue facing the citizen standing in front of them is important. Judge Love has surrounded himself with a professional staff that works every day to carry out that responsibility.

The quality of that staff deserves special recognition. From the employees who greet citizens and answer questions to those who handle records, licenses, estates, elections and the office's many other duties, they bring patience, knowledge and professionalism to work that is often complicated and time-sensitive. They are the people who turn Judge Love's commitment to service into a daily reality. Their courtesy, competence and willingness to help are a credit to Montgomery County and a major reason the Probate Office serves the public so well.

His role as Montgomery County’s chief election official is another enormous responsibility. Elections must be administered professionally, securely and efficiently. Judge Love has worked to improve election preparation, voting technology and voter outreach while carrying the responsibility of helping ensure that Montgomery County citizens can exercise one of our most fundamental rights.

He has also looked beyond the traditional boundaries of the office through initiatives involving property protection, mental-health resources and community outreach. Those efforts reflect a broader understanding of public service and the opportunity an elected official has to make government more responsive to the people.

I know from my father’s tenure that the Probate Office can be one of the busiest and most demanding positions in county government. Much of the work happens without television cameras, press conferences or headlines. Success is often measured much more simply: Was the citizen treated fairly? Was the problem solved? Was the office operated professionally? Those things matter.

My father believed deeply that public office was a public trust. He believed elected officials had an obligation to work hard, treat people fairly and never forget who they worked for. Those values stayed with me throughout my own years in public service, and they remain the standard by which I judge government today.

When I look at the Montgomery County Probate Office under J.C. Love, I see an office that is working to modernize while still respecting those traditional principles of service. Judge Love deserves credit for that progress, and so do the men and women who work beside him every day.

There will always be plenty of opportunities to criticize government when criticism is deserved. I have never been shy about doing that. But public officials who are doing a good job deserve recognition as well.

As the son of a man who spent nearly a decade serving as Montgomery County Probate Judge, I have a special appreciation for the office and for the responsibility that comes with it. I believe my father would be pleased to see an office he once led continuing to evolve, improve and serve the people of Montgomery County.

Judge J.C. Love and his team are carrying on an important tradition of public service, and they deserve our thanks for a job well done.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a longtime Alabama Republican figure, former Alabama Legislator and Montgomery businessman. He served as Co-Chair of “Alabama Trump Victory” in 2016, and served as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. He is a noted civic leader in Montgomery with deep family roots in Alabama’s legal and political history.

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