Joe Smith is proud to call St. Lucie County home and is pleased to serve as your independently elected Clerk of the Circuit Court. A native of Fort Pierce, Clerk Smith has lived here for nearly all his life.
Elected by the voters of St. Lucie County after serving one term on the Board of Commissioners, Clerk Smith received his Master of Arts degree from The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management in Washington, D.C. He earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida. Clerk Smith also earned both the Advanced Commissioner Certification and Clerk of the Circuit Court certification approved by the Florida Supreme Court.
Smith is a graduate of Lincoln Park Academy, the same school his mother and sister attended. His first job in our community was working after-school at WQCS 88.9FM, broadcast from the campus of Indian River State College.
As county commissioner, Smith was a driving force behind the "greening" of St. Lucie County. He first began pushing the concept to county leaders after attending a national conference in 2005, which helped lead to the environmentally-friendly designs of several county facilities including the Clerk of the Circuit Court building in Historic Downtown Ft. Pierce and the Havert L. Fenn Center. Additionally, Smith served as Chair of the Roundtable of St. Lucie County, where he worked with other community leaders to improve the lives of children; and the Public Safety Coordinating Council.
Clerk Smith was recently awarded the Black History Maker Award from the City of Fort Pierce and the Liberty Bell award for outstanding service to the community from the St. Lucie County Bar Association. Clerk Smith owes his success to the good sense and strong convictions he learned in our community.
Smith serves on numerous community boards including: Treasure Coast University Schools (Palm Pointe Research School at Tradition), St. Andrew's Episcopal Academy Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee Counties.
Smith was recently elected to serve as Second Vice President of the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers, the statewide, professional association of all elected clerks and comptrollers. Smith's election to the Executive Committee makes him the first clerk from St. Lucie County to serve on the governing board, and he is now in line to serve as the President in the future. Clerk Smith also serves as Vice-Chairman of the Florida Courts E-Filing Authority which oversees the statewide implementation of electronic filing.
Clerk Smith is married to Heather Sperrazza Lueke of Wellington, FL and they have one son, David (age 1 month). Clerk Smith is the youngest of four children born to James H. and Carolyn Mackey Smith.
