Court Clerk Gary Behler stands Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court. Photo by Angela Foster.
Pennsylvanian Gary D. Behler left snow and took one look at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on a warm March day in the mid-1970s and admired the campus and the sunshine.
Behler chose UTC and earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1980, and then—after attending some classes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina—returned to UTC to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice in 1990.
Behler, 66, parlayed his education into a 16-year position working with at-risk youth at Bethel Bible Village in Hixson and was elected in 2010 as Juvenile Court clerk for Hamilton County. He is now in his fourth term.
The County Officials Association of Tennessee (COAT) recently named Behler its “2023 State Court Clerk of the Year.”
Behler inherited an office with enough paper records to twice exceed the height of the Republic Centre, downtown Chattanooga’s tallest at 21 floors, and weighing as much as three elephants at four tons each, the local newspaper calculated.
Behler spearheaded a mission to store all that paper digitally. Nearly 8.8 million pieces of paper are now online on multiple servers with built-in redundancy in case a record gets fried in the system.
“I have said to people often that we have the best court clerk in the state,” Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw saw. “Mr. Behler’s recent recognition from his peers solidifies what I already knew. Through his local and statewide work, Gary sets himself apart as a forward-thinking leader who is always looking for the next big advancement in the delivery of services he and his deputy clerks provide.”
Behler “has embraced the role of change agent,” COAT’s award announcement stated, and “focused on implementing a complete technology overhaul of that office, transitioning from a traditional paper-driven process to an electronic workflow system.” In February 2018, the County Technical Assistance Service recognized Behler’s office as Tennessee’s first fully electronic state court clerk’s office.
Rebecca Bartlett, former president of the County Officials Association of Tennessee, noted Behler’s authenticity, integrity and preparations in his position.
“I knew immediately who I was going to select as my ‘Clerk of the Year,’” Barlett said. “We sure could use more folks like him in county government. Hamilton County is very fortunate to have him.”
Said Behler friend and peer Vince Dean, Hamilton County’s Criminal Court clerk: “Gary is the epitome of public service. His attention to detail and commitment to serving the citizens of Hamilton County is unsurpassed. He has spent most of his adult life serving the needs of others and is without question one of the most giving people I know. I consider him a mentor with respect to utilizing technology in a clerk’s office. He and I have worked together closely on important legislation that impacts both the people of Hamilton County and others across the state of Tennessee, and his attention to detail is remarkable.”
Philyaw added: “For me, he is certainly a great partner in the operation of the court activities in the building. But just as important is that he is always a great partner for the big picture, too. His long career working with families in Hamilton County comes in handy regularly. Hamilton County Juvenile Court is not just a court but is a crossroads of social services and family work. And Mr. Behler ‘gets it’ and is always ready to help.”
Gary Behler has served as the Juvenile Court Clerk in Hamilton County since being elected in 2010.
For 34 years, Behler has taught adjunct criminal justice classes at UTC. His wife, Jamie, also a UTC grad, teaches kindergarten locally. Several of Behler’s college students began their educations with Jamie Behler as the teacher. “So that’s good,” Behler said, “a circle-of-life kind of thing.”
The couple has two grown children: Brittany, a local Rivermont Elementary teacher, and Jared, a worship pastor at Compassion Christian Church in Statesboro, Georgia.
Behler grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his carpenter father, now deceased; his registered nurse mother, now retired; and two siblings. He attended high school at Lehighton, between Allentown and the Poconos. He quit football after blowing out his knees but walked on to play catcher when UTC had a baseball team. He also played trumpet in the UTC band, which then was just a shadow of the current 100-plus roster led by Director of Bands Randall Coleman.
Behler has had season tickets for UTC football and basketball for 34 years and follows athletics at Penn State University and the University of North Carolina.
Chattanooga public relations professional Robin Derryberry, a former administrator for the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, met Behler in 1980 when he was courting his wife. Derryberry and the former Jamie Barnett were members of the Chattanooga Singers and Singing Mocs.
“After I left the court, I was thrilled to learn that Gary would be offering himself for public service, running for the office of Juvenile Court clerk. As anyone will tell you, the office was filled from top to bottom with files … lots of files,” Derryberry emailed. “Once elected, Gary took a modern approach to his job making the Hamilton County Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office the first in the state to go paperless. It’s that type of leadership that I was honored to see as we were both appointed as commissioners to the Tennessee Human Rights Commission.”
UTC Criminal Justice faculty member Karen McGuffee said Behler’s 34 years as an adjunct teacher and his organization of the court clerk’s office are the epitomes of hard work and devotion.
“His student evaluations are excellent, and the students appreciate his knowledge and practical application of the material. Mr. Behler is always willing to assist students by advising them on career options and by helping provide internships in Juvenile Court,” said McGuffee, professor and associate head of the Social, Cultural and Justice Studies Department.
While a UTC student, Behler was a student government senator and chairman of the entertainment committee, which was in charge of drawing concert acts. Under Behler’s leadership, the committee brought in such performers as the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Marvin Gaye, Peter Frampton and the Little River Band.
“UTC was an incredible experience,” Behler said. The concert work “was probably one of the most educational parts of my college career. I mean, I was a good student. I made a 3.8 when I graduated. But actually getting your hands into something like that and producing these things, it was incredible.
“I loved Southern literature, Civil War history, so I wanted to come to a different part of the country to study and came down here. I looked at UT Knoxville—way too big—and I came to Chattanooga and it was just the right perfect size, perfect fit.”
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