A simmering feud between two elected officials erupted publicly Friday after Bexar County Clerk Lucy Adame-Clark removed her two deputies and all the case files from County Court-at-Law Judge Grace Uzomba’s courtroom over allegations the employees had been mistreated.

Neither Adame-Clark nor Uzomba would discuss the allegations, but Administrative Judge John Longoria confirmed what had virtually the entire courthouse buzzing all day.

“I’ve been made aware that some deputy county clerks have made complaints” about Uzomba, said Longoria, who oversees the county’s 15 courts-of-law and also is presiding judge of County Court-at-Law No. 5.

He declined to give details because it could be a personnel matter, adding: “I have seen letters, but my knowledge is limited.”

Longoria called Adame-Clark’s action an “extraordinary and unusual step” that he never had seen in the more than 40 years he has held elected office.

Sources said the controversy stems over having the clerks work weekends and nights and trying to force them to work on holidays, among other work condition complaints.

Uzomba, of County Court-at-Law No. 2, presided over a trial most of Friday. She would say only that she suggested “investigation of rumors and all facts,” adding she would “reserve her comment.”

Adame-Clark, who officiated at mass weddings for Valentine’s Day starting at midnight in front of the Bexar County Courthouse, said late Friday that her responsibilities are to keep the integrity of the county’s records and to protect the people who work for her.

“It’s not me running this place, it’s my staff,” she said. “They are the front line of the county clerk’s office. I’m doing everything I can regarding the responsibility to my staff.”

Adame-Clark also cited a lack of respect, communication and transparency between the two elected officials, without going into details. But she added she felt the issues could be resolved.

The county clerk is the official custodian of records in Bexar County, responsible for hundreds of thousands of records, including civil and misdemeanor court files, property deeds and birth, marriage and death certificates.

Deputy clerks, who handle most of the paperwork for misdemeanor court cases, are employees of Adame-Clark, but they take direction from the judge in the court to which they’re assigned. Each judge hires his or her own court coordinator and court reporter.

Longoria said clerks are required to be in the courtroom to issue oaths to jurors, maintain court files, stay late if juries are deliberating and register verdicts.

Clerks generally work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — unless they are in trial, when they might stay past 5 p.m. — and rarely work weekends, unless a judge asks a jury to continue deliberating. If clerks work past regular hours, they must be paid overtime.

Adame-Clark said Uzomba’s court continues to operate as it should, despite her deputy clerks and the files not being there. If a clerk is required to be there in person, another county employee will be sent in.

“I want people to know that we are not hurting her,” she said. “We pulled the county court files, but we are providing her with all files needed for court.”

She added that her deputy clerks continue to do their duty — just not in the same office as the judge.

The clerks assigned to Uzomba and the records removed late Thursday from her courtroom on the first floor of the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center are now in an office in the basement of the old courthouse next door.

Until the issue is resolved, deputy clerks will take files for the cases on Uzomba’s dockets to her office each morning and return them to the basement in the evening, said Dianne Garcia-Marquez, general administrative counsel.

In the year she’s been in office, Uzomba has fired one court coordinator and another has resigned. Her first court reporter also left.

Adame-Clark and Uzomba took office in January 2019, defeating Republican incumbents in the Democratic sweep of 2018. Their terms expire in 2022. This is the first time in office for both women.

Uzomba, a native of Nigeria, is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army and is licensed to practice law in the United States.

Adame-Clark, a San Antonio native, was a long-time Bexar County Sheriff’s Office employee who trained with the FBI. She was the first Latina and first woman elected Bexar County clerk.

Longoria said the allegations were troubling and concerned him, but he was careful not to take sides on the issue.

“The judge is well-intentioned, she’s got her own way to do things. I will stand by her,” he said of Uzomba. “That’s not to say I won’t stand by Lucy. She’s working hard to improve her office.”

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863