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HARTINGTON – Brittni Benscoter is in a good position to get to know the rural community she will soon call home.
The 42-year-old started working for the city of Hartington on May 30 and was appointed as the full-time city clerk-treasurer by the City Council during its meeting on June 12, replacing Dani de Waal.
'The job has been going great – getting to learn everything there is about the town of Hartington and the people who live in it,' Benscoter said.
Bencscoter said she is already meeting a lot of new people in her new position.
'I have met and spoken with many great people that have all been kind and welcoming to myself and my family as we relocate to Hartington,' she said.
She noted her previous job required her to live in Iowa, as she had worked in two different state positions over the course of nearly 18 years.
'Recently, I decided to take a different career path,' Benscoter said. 'My husband and I both grew up in small towns and wanted our son to grow up in a small town and away from the city and the increasing crime.'
During her career working for the state of Iowa, she was an Economic Fraud Control Unit investigator in the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals' Investigations Division. She investigated welfare fraud for about 13 years in that role.
Prior to that, Benscoter worked for the Iowa Department of Human Services for almost five years as an income maintenance worker, establishing benefit eligibility.
She earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D., in 2004. She received a master's degree in criminal justice from USD in 2020.
In addition to her state jobs, Benscoter also served as the Woodbury Township clerk in Woodbury County, Iowa, which is where her hometown of Sergeant Bluff is located.
She noted she 'greatly enjoyed' working as a township clerk.
'I was excited when this opportunity arose,' Benscoter said of the Hartington city clerk-treasurer position. 'I enjoy working with the public and the financial part of the job, as I love working with numbers.'
Her husband, Louis, is from Newcastle, the connection that brought the couple – who have been married for almost eight years – and their family, including their 6-year-old son, to northeast Nebraska.
Most recently, the Benscoters were living in rural Sergeant Bluff, outside of Sioux City, before deciding to move to Hartington. They have since purchased some land southeast of the schools in Hartington and are working on building a home there.
'In the meantime, we are residing on our farmland outside of Newcastle,' she said. 'I love the small-town feel and kindness of everyone in Hartington and am very excited to be able to live there when our house is completed.'
Outside of work, she loves painting signs and making home décor items and crafts, which led her to start a business called Angel Creations LLC that takes up most of her 'free time.'
'We love camping in our camper and doing outdoor activities, such as kayaking and hiking,' Benscoter said.
She noted she is looking forward to serving the city of Hartington in her new position of city clerk-treasurer.
'My family and I are very excited for this next chapter in our lives and to be a part of the Hartington community,' Benscoter said.
