Sonja Embrey is a lifelong resident of Hampshire County. She started in the Hampshire County Circuit’s office in 2001 as a Deputy Clerk and was then elected as the Circuit Clerk and took office in 2005. 

​

In 2001, Sonja was hired as a Deputy Clerk and was hired to help bring the Clerk’s Office into the technological age with the use of computers and the court’s automated case management system. As the elected Circuit Clerk, she has continued to improve the functionality and accessibility of the Circuit Clerk’s office. In 2016, she opted the Hampshire County Circuit Clerk’s office into a pilot program with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to transition the case management system to an e-filing system. This system, which has now been implemented by the West Virginia Supreme Court in 42 of 55 counties, has greatly improved the efficiency of the Circuit Clerk’s office.

Sonja has served as the President of the West Virginia Circuit Clerks Association since 2018 and serves on various boards and committees such as being nominated as a member of the Board for West Virginia Association of Counties, and Circuit Clerk Liaison Committee with the West Virginia Supreme Court. Sonja also served on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Executive Oversight Committee regarding their e-file case management system. She has also been appointed by the Governor to serve on the West Virginia Records Management and Preservation Board.

Sonja is continually striving for more ways to improve the practices and procedures within her office and her role within the community. She is a strong and active member of her community. She continues to live in Hampshire County with her husband Paul “Rusty” Embrey and they have a son, Paul, who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.