As I evaluate and communicate new information for many hours daily, some of which is not good, I know how important a positive attitude is for all of us during this challenging time.  I choose to keep my head right and know that God is in control of this situation.  Please join me with a positive attitude and as I “tell you something good”, please also forward some positivity to another person today.

Let me introduce to you our talented team with the City of Southaven who helps me and serves our citizens in a tremendous way daily.

Today’s introduction is Thomas Mastin, our Municipal Court Clerk.  Thomas’ service to the City began on May 21, 1997 when he was hired as an Emergency Dispatcher/Telecommunicator.  He served in this capacity until October 1, 2002 when he made a career change to our Municipal Court as a Deputy Court Clerk where he served until December, 2004 when he was promoted to Deputy City Clerk.  He served in this role until being promoted to his current position in June, 2011.  Prior to his service with the City, he worked as an Emergency Dispatcher with the Desoto County Sheriff’s Department from January, 1994 until January, 1997.

Thomas received his Associate of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Northwest Mississippi Community College in May, 1999.  He continued his professional education with the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, graduating and achieving Certified Municipal Clerk status in 2009 and Master Municipal Clerk in 2018.

Professionally, Thomas received two life-saving commendations during his career as a telecommunicator.  He was honored to serve as President of the APCO Mississippi Chapter President in 2001-2002 and continues to serve on the Mississippi Municipal Court Clerks Association Executive Committee as he has since 2018.

When asked, “Why do you do what you do?”  Thomas responded, “I have always been a public servant during my entire career and my service in law enforcement and emergency communications, as well as my education in the criminal justice field, helped prepare me for my current role as court clerk.  I am a very detail-oriented person, which certainly comes in handy as a court clerk, where detailed and factual records are vital to our operation.”    

Thomas has one older brother who lives in North Carolina and, when not working, spends his personal time as a movie buff, avid reader, and rare bourbon collector.

As our Municipal Court Clerk, Thomas has supervision of all court records and processes outside of the Municipal Judge’s responsibilities.  This is obviously an essential function for our city with the enforcement of all of our laws.  As he stated, it takes an experienced, detail-oriented person supervising this operation considering the large amount of transactions and records involved.  Thomas is perfect for his job and is another talented member of my staff that just takes care of business.  When I receive requests regarding any judicial issue, I just hand the ball to him and he does his thing in an outstanding way.  He is a great public servant who is always ready to go above and beyond expectations to help anyone.  I’m proud to have him on our team representing us and delivering our highest level of service standards every day.  #tellmesomethinggood