2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 53
Commending Jennifer Ashworth.
Agreed to by the Senate, January 22, 2026
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 26, 2026
WHEREAS, Jennifer Ashworth, an esteemed public servant who greatly served the citizens of Henry County for 37 years, including as clerk of the Circuit Court of Henry County, retired in 2025; and
WHEREAS, in 1989, Jennifer Ashworth was selected from among a pool of 200 applicants to join the Henry County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, where she would support the court's operations, recordkeeping, and public engagement for the remainder of her career; and
WHEREAS, Jennifer Ashworth served for some time as lead deputy clerk before being elected clerk of the Henry County Circuit Court in 2016, assuming the responsibility of more than 800 duties mandated by the Code of Virginia; and
WHEREAS, over her tenure, Jennifer Ashworth modernized operations at the Henry County Circuit Court Clerk's Office by digitizing land records dating back to 1777 and converting criminal and civil files into electronic formats; and
WHEREAS, Jennifer Ashworth secured a Library of Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation grant to support the preservation and digitization of several historically significant documents in the Henry County Circuit Court's archives, including a land grant signed by Thomas Jefferson; and