Rare race in Suffolk court

For the first time in nearly five decades, someone new is going to be elected Suffolk County civil clerk of courts.

Michael Joseph Donovan has retired after serving as the clerk magistrate for civil business since 1976, ending a run of nearly half a century in a countywide elected position that rarely gets publicity.

He officially hung up the docket folder in December, according to a trial court spokeswoman; he celebrated his retirement with a party this week.

Donovan, who worked his way up from an office boy to 12-term elected official, has left the keys to the clerk’s office for now with his friend, Southie neighbor and first assistant John Powers III.

Powers, a veteran of the office and the grandson of a former state Senate president and Boston mayoral candidate, will hold the office as acting clerk until after the election for the position next year.

And now Powers plans to run to make that more permanent, he told the Herald.

“I understand the job and i understand where the job is going,” he said. “You need somebody with expertise.”

He said the key with this job is making sure everyone has equal, consistent access to the courts, particularly as they scramble to modernize in a building that still doesn’t even have Wi-Fi. Suffolk Superior Court is downtown at 3 Pemberton Square, but covers Boston, Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop.

At this point, no one else has recently designated a committee to run for this office.

The position rarely makes headlines, but in it Donovan was making an annual rate of $174,532 when he retired, according to state data.

Donovan, who still likes to get out and about at political functions, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Donovan’s retirement was first reported in the Dorchester Reporter.

Powers said Donovan leaves “big shoes to fill” and is “incredibly well respected by the bar and the community.”

The clerk-of-courts positions are serious business, though they also can be a good landing spot for politicians whose other ambitions haven’t worked out. Over on the criminal side of the clerk’s office — a couple of floors up in the aged Suffolk Superior courthouse downtown — Maura Hennigan, a former Boston city councilor who’s not a lawyer, runs the show, as she has since getting elected in 2006. That’s the year after she stopped serving on the council to instead opt to run against incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino, who defeated her.