The qualifying period to run for office in the June Democratic and Republican primaries has been open for a couple of weeks, and only a handful of candidates have qualified so far.

Qualifying opened Jan. 8, for both parties and will close Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. Candidates must have their paperwork filed and fees paid by that date to run for office.

The election is scheduled for June 5, and several county and state offices are up for grabs. If needed, a primary runoff is scheduled for July 17. The general election will be held on Nov. 6.

According to Ozetta Thomas, treasurer for the Dallas County Democratic Executive Committee, four candidates were qualified for county offices as of Thursday afternoon.

Thomas said Jimmy Nunn, who currently works as the attorney for the city of Selma, has qualified for Dallas County Probate Judge, along with Robert W. Green.

Current Probate Judge and Dallas County Commission Chairman Kim Ballard will not seek reelection after serving for two terms.

Mike Granthum, a captain with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, is the only candidate to qualify to run for sheriff so far for the Democratic party.

Current Sheriff Harris Huffman has decided to not seek reelection.

No Republican or Democratic candidates have qualified for circuit clerk or coroner. Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway’s term expires this year.

Thomas said Carolyn Bates has qualified to run for the District 3 seat on the Dallas County Board of Education. Bates also qualified to run for the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee.

Incumbent Hank Sanders has qualified to run for senate for District 23. Prince Chestnut has qualified to run for state representative for District 67.

No Republican candidates have qualified for any of the races in Dallas County.

Democratic candidates with questions can call Synethia Pettaway at (334) 874-6538 or (334) 412-6044 or come by the office, which is located at 1600 Broad St. in the Thomas Accounting building.

Republican candidates interested in qualifying should contact ALGOP political director Reed Phillips at (205) 212-5900 or rphillips@algop.org.

Each party will publish candidates’ names online as they qualify. Those lists can be found online at http://aldemocrats.org/blog/list_of_qualified_candidates_for_2018 and https://algop.org/elections/qualified-candidates/.