Joann M. Behrens, 263 Behrens Road in Jim Thorpe, has announced her candidacy for re-election to the position of Carbon County prothonotary. She is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination in the May 19 primary election.

Behrens is completing her 36th year of service in the prothonotary's office. She began working there in 1979 as a clerk and advanced to the position of second deputy prothonotary in 1988. In 1993, she was appointed to the position of acting first deputy prothonotary, and later that year she was named acting prothonotary. She was the first deputy prothonotary for 10 years until being elected to a four-year term of office as prothonotary in 2003, and then was re-elected in 2007 and 2011.During her tenure, she has seen and contributed to many advancements in the office, including computerization and scanning of court records.The prothonotary's office is the sole receiver of passport applications for Carbon County and last year processed over 965 applications. During her tenure, Behrens has brought the services of a Protection From Abuse Coordinator to the Prothonotary's Office to help assist victims of domestic violence.Behrens is a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Jim Thorpe, where she is a current member of the decorating committee and the annual picnic committee.A daughter of Irene B. (Besek) Nonnemacher and the late Kermit Nonnemacher, she is a lifelong resident of the Jim Thorpe Area, having graduated in 1977 from the Jim Thorpe Area High School.The candidate is married to Josiah "Cy" Behrens, a former Penn Forest Township supervisor and presently Penn Forest Township tax collector.The couple has two children, Jordan, a surveying engineering student at Penn State, Wilkes-Barre, and Josiah IV, a senior at Jim Thorpe Area High School.