The County Officials Association of Tennessee announces that Lehighton native Gary D. Behler is the association’s State Court Clerk of the Year for 2023.

Behler is the Juvenile Court Clerk for Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Behler, a 1975 Lehighton High School graduate, has served as the Juvenile Court Clerk in Hamilton County since elected in 2010.

He has focused on implementing a complete technology overhaul of the office, transitioning from a traditional paper-driven process to an electronic workflow system.

His office has now digitized over 8.6 million pages of documents during the conversion.

The court features an integrated data management system including electronic file management in both the Main and Child Support Court Divisions including all seven courtrooms.

In February, 2018 the County Technical Assistance Service recognized the office as the first fully electronic state court clerk’s office in Tennessee. Its e-filing system, implemented in 2022, was one of the first to serve juvenile courts in Tennessee.

Behler is a board member and the immediate past president of the Tennessee State Court Clerk’s Association and former Legislative Chair.

He also serves on the board of directors of the County Officials Association of Tennessee.

In July he began a two-year term as board chairman of the Hamilton County Children’s Advocacy Center. He recently concluded his term on the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, having been appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam and reappointed by Gov. Bill Lee.

Behler is the son of Doris Behler and the late James W. Behler Jr. of Lehighton.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1980 and received his master’s in Criminal Justice with honors in 1990 from UT-Chattanooga.

He is a Certified Public Administrator (CPA) as well as a Certified County Financial Officer (CCFO). He has served as an adjunct professor of Criminal Justice at UT-Chattanooga for 33 years.

Gary and his wife Jamie, a kindergarten teacher at the Chattanooga School for Liberal Arts, live in Georgetown, Tennessee.

They have two adult children - Brittany, a fifth grade teacher in Chattanooga and Jared, a worship pastor for Compassion Christian Church in Statesboro, Georgia.