Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday for the final undecided election in Warren County — to choose a circuit clerk for at least the next year.

Interim clerk Greg Peltz, 67, and Jan Hyland Daigre, 53, are making her second try at the office, are the choices in a runoff election for the office in a maelstrom of scandal and turnover in 2014. Peltz was appointed May 19 by the Warren County Board of Supervisors after the board declared the position vacant that same day, effectively removing three-term clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree from office.

Polling places in Warren County may be searched via the polling place locator link on the Secretary of State’s website. There, voters statewide can type in their physical address to determine where they vote.

The winner of the runoff holds the office until next year’s state/county election cycle, where Daigre or Peltz may face voters again.

Daigre finished tops among five candidates in the Nov. 4 general election, with 39 percent of the vote. Peltz won 24 percent. Daigre, a former school board member, had applied for the job in May when Peltz was a 4-1 choice of county supervisors to hold the job until an election could be held.

Turnout in Warren County on Nov. 4, a day when federal races were also decided, was 37.6 percent, or 1.6 percent higher than local turnout last federal midterm election in 2010. Interest in the race showed in the raw returns, which showed a mere 3 ½ more votes per precinct were cast in the Cochran/Childers race for U.S. Senate than were cast in the clerk contest.

Palmertree was sentenced Sept. 29 to five years in jail for embezzlement and is the subject of a civil case in Hinds County Chancery Court involving more than $1.04 million in payments county officials say is owed back to the county. Her removal was based on documents produced by the state auditor that showed she had declared residence in Madison County in 2013.

In Mississippi, circuit and chancery clerks are the highest-paying jobs in county government. Base salaries for each are capped at $90,000 by the Legislature. Circuit Clerk maintains all court records, filings, paper and accounts for all court costs, fees, fines, and assessments for Circuit Court, County Court and Youth Court. In addition, the office keeps marriage licenses, jury lists, civil and criminal trial dockets and licenses for doctors and other professionals. During elections, the office serves as the registrar of voters and assists with elections. Candidates for county-level offices turn qualifying papers in to the office.