An Interview with Clerk of the Circuit Court Ed Semonian

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in October at the City Clerk’s Office in the on King Street.

The staff there is unusually bubbly for a city administrative office—all smiles and enthusiasm.

A lawyer zips up to the glass-enclosed windows and says hello. Ed Semonian ambles up to the window.

“How’s things?” the lawyer asks, obviously a regular. “Good,“ Semonian replies. “Just busy. Running for re-election. I have an opponent this time.”

“An opponent!,” the lawyer exclaims. “You have an opponent? But you know everything. Can I send you money? Where can I send a check to your campaign?”

Semonian, 77, is a popular guy. But for the first time since he ran against a candidate for election in 1979, he has some competition.

He’s been in office for 32 years and is looking to serve another eight-year term.

“I enjoy doing what I do very much. It’s a good fit for me,” he says, speaking from his office on the third floor. “I’ve been doing this for a number of years and have a great deal of experience doing it. ... I have insight into what goes on in the office and how to deal with it. The duties that a clerk has are extensive. My years of being in this community are valuable and so are my relationships with various people.”

He calls his fellow clerks in Fairfax and Arlington counties “friends.”

“We talk to each other frequently. The two other gentleman are frequently asking for advice” and he sees himself as a bit of a mentor to them.

He grew up in Alexandria and attended George Washington High School with former Sen. Patsy Ticer along with television personality and weatherman Willard Scott, both of whom are still friends of his.

He attended George Washington University, practiced law in Alexandria, and today lives in Old Town.

As head of the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Office, Semonian oversees a staff of 21. They deal with documents relating to courts, real estate, probate deals in estates, criminal cases and interacting with the public as citizens come in with questions, forms and fees.

“I know most of my customers,” he says, adding that he provides clerks in court for hearings every day to assist judges. “People like to do business with us and people can always call me,” says Semonian who answers his own phone.

He enjoys his job immensely, even if he has been threatened a few times over the years due to misunderstandings over bail money and other things. With his signature on many legal documents such as Alexandria marriage licenses, a few times he’s been erroneously sought out by a disgruntled citizen.

He is a Democrat and this Nov. 8 election is running against Republican Chris Marston.

However, he says party affiliation “does not matter in this position. When you’re a clerk, you do business with everybody. It makes no difference whether someone comes in here as a Democrat or a Republican. Clerks don’t worry about that internally amongst themselves.”

Over the years, Semonian has moved the city’s records, which date back to 1784 in the Alexandria office, to digital form.

“When I became clerk everything was done manually,” he recalls, but today many document searches can be conducted online through the City of Alexandria’s website either for free or for a fee for a more detailed service.

However, he says most of the demand comes from people seeking access to papers housed in the office—more so than online access.

When he’s not sorting out the daily duties of his office—and on most nights he’s there until about 7 p.m. and often on weekends—he likes to ride his bicycle or paddle a canoe or kayak.

On his bike he says he’s done “some fairly good distance stuff” and likes to head out to Maryland’s Eastern Shore or closer to home for a tour along the C&O Canal.

“When you’re a clerk, you don’t have a lot of quiet time."