Candidate Profile: Chris Falcon For Fairfax County Clerk Of Court

FAIRFAX COUNTY — Chris Falcon, a practicing attorney who currently serves as deputy clerk for the Arlington Circuit Court Clerk’s office, is running for Fairfax County Clerk of Court in the Nov. 7 general election.

Falcon, the son of immigrant parents from Peru and Ecuador, grew up speaking Spanish and learned to speak English as his second language in kindergarten in the Fairfax County Public School system.

He graduated from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax and became part of the first generation of his family to graduate from college when he received his bachelor’s degree from James Madison University. He now lives with his family in Annandale.

Falcon, a Democrat, is hoping to replace retiring Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk John Frey, a Republican who has served as clerk of the county’s circuit court for the last 32 years.

The general election ballot in Fairfax County will also include countywide races for Board of Supervisors chairman, at-large members for Fairfax County School Board, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney, Fairfax County Sheriff, and Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District.

Early voting for the general election began on Friday, Sept. 22. More information on how to vote is available from the Fairfax County Office of Elections.

Patch asked the two candidates running for Fairfax County Clerk of Court to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are Falcon's responses:

Name

Chris Falcon

Town of Residence

Annandale

Party affiliation

Democratic Party

Family?

My wife Jackie Falcon is an FCPS educator and I have three kids: Christopher, Chase and Gracie.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My wife works as a teacher for the Fairfax County Public Schools Family Literacy Program, and my mother was an instructional aide for FCPS.

Education

I received my Bachelor's from James Madison University with a BBA in Management, and Minors in American Studies and Public Administration. I received my JD from Widener Commonwealth Law School and graduated with a certificate from the Law & Government Institute.

Occupation

I currently serve as Deputy Clerk, Civil Division Supervisor and Legal Counsel at the Arlington Circuit Court Clerk's Office. I have worked for the Circuit Court Clerk's office for the past nine years. Prior to that, I was an attorney in private practice. In 2014, I founded The Falcon Firm, PLLC.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I have not held elected office before; however, I currently serve as the Vice Rector of the James Madison University Board of Visitors, and am also a member of the Fairfax Human Services Council and the Arlington ASAP Policy Board.

Campaign website

www.falconforfairfax.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am seeking to be the next Fairfax Clerk of Court because we have an opportunity to bring this important office into the 21st century by expanding online access to court services and finally providing free access to public case information. Fairfax is currently the only county in Virginia that does not offer free online access to public case information, including case numbers, case names, hearing dates/times and courtroom assignments. This is a huge access to justice issue for Fairfax residents and other customers that cannot afford to visit the court in-person in the middle of a workday, or pay $150 for CPAN (Fairfax's Court Public Access Network). As a taxpayer, I do not like that neighboring counties are getting more in return from their court. I believe we can leverage technology to save customers time and money by allowing them options to make virtual appointments and request copies of public records on file with the Clerk of Court through the website.

The single most pressing issue facing Fairfax County is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Affordability. It's become increasingly difficult to be able to afford to live in Northern Virginia. I am sensitive to this both personally and professionally as a long-time volunteer pro bono attorney. I know many are struggling to afford to pay mortgages, rent, transportation and childcare. The last thing we should be doing is forcing people to lose half a day of work to sit in traffic to go to the Fairfax courthouse to get a copy of a public record that they should have been able to request on their phones and pay with a credit card. I will meet this need by providing an online document request portal on the Clerk's office website to facilitate copy requests of public records on file including marriage licenses, deeds, and name change orders. In turn, this will also reduce congestion on our clogged roadways in Fairfax County and cut our carbon footprint by lowering the amount of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. I also plan to continue to work with our non-profit partners and convene a roundtable of our local legal aid organizations to examine how we are providing service to our most vulnerable neighbors in Fairfax.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to recent issues (i.e. the pandemic)? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think by and large our government agencies performed admirably. As Deputy Clerk, I was proud to create virtual methods for customers to access the court during the height of COVID, including implementation of online marriage license appointments. This allowed our customers to stay home and stay safe during an unprecedented time. Unfortunately, too many local government offices have abandoned the efficiencies and innovations that were made in 2020. We need to continue to evolve and offer customers options when it comes to service delivery. I strongly believe the Clerk's office should always strive to offer excellent in-person service, but if a customer prefers to make an online appointment because they don't get paid time off at their job or don't have childcare, then I think we should be meeting them where they are.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

The biggest difference is that if elected, I will finally get Fairfax County onto the state-run FREE online case information system. The current case information system which my opponent supports lacks transparency and hurts underrepresented and income-limited communities of Fairfax County. In addition, I am a first-time candidate for elected office.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Equitable access to justice begins with access to information. I feel very strongly that our workforce should reflect the diverse community it serves. I am on record that I will be ensuring our customer service positions are offering language premium pay and that we are hiring staff that speak multiple languages. As a first-generation child of immigrants and someone who spoke another language prior to English this issue is personal to me. As a government department head, I also know the great benefit of offering service in multiple languages.

I also believe that it's time we start a constructive dialogue about bringing pop-up satellite services to parts of Fairfax County that are over 10 miles away from the Fairfax Circuit Court. There is available county-owned space that would accommodate this in both the South County region and also in Reston.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have managed teams for the past 15 years as both an attorney and court supervisor. I have also leveraged relationships with other government agencies including the Arlington County Police Department, Commonwealth's Attorney, and Sheriff's office. These partnerships lead to the creation of our Saturday Expungement Clinics in Arlington. This innovative partnership allows customers with criminal charges on their records (that did not result in conviction) to petition for removal of the charges at no-charge. These charges are a major impediment to gaining employment and housing.

I have also spearheaded innovations including an online marriage license application, online name change application and helped bring along e-filing to Arlington nearly a decade before Fairfax County finally started an e-filing pilot program. I am also the recipient of the Arlington County Manager's Award for my work on creation of a jury orientation video that our customers have viewed over 14,000 times.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

It takes years to build your reputation but 5 minutes to ruin it. I think too often as attorneys we are afraid to say we don't know the answer because we believe it shows weakness. I don't mind saying "I don't know. I'll have to get back to you." The follow-up is the key.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am your home-grown talent, born and raised in Fairfax and educated in your Fairfax County Public Schools. I love Fairfax County and the opportunity it has provided me and my family. I was taught to always be intellectually curious, work hard and care for my neighbors. I hope to earn your vote for Fairfax Clerk of Court on November 7th or earlier.`

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