Karen E. Rushing has been Sarasota County’s elected Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller since 1987. She has more than 30 years of court management experience, both in Florida and in her native New York state.

Ms. Rushing received a BA degree from the University of South Florida, an MBA degree from Nova University and has completed post graduate work at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  

In 2005, and again in 2009, Ms. Rushing received the Clerk of the Year Award from the Florida Association of Court Clerks (FACC), where she served as State President in 2008, Chair of Strategic Planning in 2009, and currently serves as the Legislative Chair. Since 2003, she has served on the Florida Supreme Court's Electronic Filing committee. She has been honored with numerous awards for excellence in financial management, in addition to receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of South Florida. 

Ms. Rushing served as an advisor to the United States Department of Commerce through the Commercial Law Department. In this capacity, she assisted the developing democracy of Angola, Africa, with a judicial reform project supported by the Ministry of Justice in Angola, and designed to provide substantial reform to their court system.

Ms. Rushing is committed to the goal of providing citizens with the highest quality customer service, and effective cost control.

The Clerk also serves the community by volunteering: Her community activities include serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Sarasota County, and as the immediate past Chair of the Community Impact Committee, a committee designed to assist with the allocation of money.