County Clerk Karen Brown,
Esq.
Karen
Brown was elected in November of 2004 to serve as the Passaic
County Clerk. She is the first ever African-American
Constitutional Officer in Passaic County. As County Clerk, Karen
is responsible for overseeing and supervising the day-to-day
operations of the Office of the County Clerk, which is comprised
of the County Clerk Division, the Elections Division, the
Registry Division and the newly created Community Outreach and
Services Division. During her first term in office, Karen has
expanded satellite services to Passaic County municipalities,
revamped the children’s identification program, created a
student internship program and made services and records
accessible to the public through the internet. Karen has been
awarded over 1 million dollars in PARIS grant funds from the
State of New Jersey which were utilized to expand electronic
recording and to image naturalization and land records.
Prior to being elected as Passaic County Clerk, Karen served as
the first African-American Assistant County Counsel and County
Adjuster. She also served as the Director of Economic
Development for the New Jersey Community Development
Corporation. Upon graduation from Rutgers Law School-Newark,
Karen made history as the school’s first ever graduate to
receive a prestigious public interest fellowship from the
National Association for Public Interest Law. Karen carried out
her fellowship with the former Passaic County Legal Aid Society
in her hometown of Paterson, New Jersey. President Bill Clinton
and Hillary Rodham Clinton honored Karen at a White House
ceremony for her legal services work.
Karen has served as the President of the Paterson Education
Fund, President of the Camp Hope Commission and as a
Commissioner of the Passaic County Board of Social Services. In
addition, Karen is a member of the Paterson Rotary Club, The
Congressional Redistricting Commission, a 2000 Leadership New
Jersey Fellow, a 2002 Leadership Paterson Fellow and a member of
the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey. Karen also
serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court Municipal Court Practice
Committee.
Karen is also a member of the steering committee of “Run Sister
Run”, a program implemented by The Center for Women in Politics
of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University to
empower women of color to seek public office. In the summer of
2008, Karen also served as a Faculty in Residence for the
center’s New Leadership Program, a national initiative to
educate and empower the next generation of women leaders.
Karen is the recipient of several awards including the Service
to the Community Award from the New Jersey State Bar
Association, Young Lawyers Division, the Rising Star Award from
the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey, the Eagle
Award from the InnerFaith Performing Arts Center, The Local
Government Award by the American Society of Public
Administrators, North Jersey Chapter, the Community Service
Award from the Northern New Jersey African American Chamber of
Commerce, the Civic Award from the Passaic County African
American Women 100 Plus, Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver’s Shirley
Chisholm Award in Law and was recognized as a “Political
Trailblazer” by B.A.L.L.O.T., a political action committee.
Karen was inducted into the Kennedy High School Sports Hall of
Fame as a member of the Girl’s Basketball Team of the Century.
Karen also delivered the keynote address for the Kennedy High
School Class of 2005 commencement. Karen is a disciple of the
St. Luke Baptist Church in Paterson, New Jersey, and is a member
of its mass choir.
Karen is a 1995 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Seton Hall
University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.
She earned her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers Law School-Newark in
1998. Karen is admitted to the New Jersey and the New York Bar
and is also admitted to practice before the United States
District Court.