Audit says Kentucky county official is not fulfilling the duties of the office
The county clerk in Elliott County has fallen short on several legal requirements and is not fulfilling her duties as an elected official, according to a report released Thursday by Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon.
Among other problems, the audit said Clerk Jennifer Carter has not put policies in place to make sure her office distributes tax receipts in a timely way to other agencies such as the school system, library and ambulance service.
Those other services “are owed substantial amounts of taxes and have been deprived of these resources for a significant time,” which can cause problems for them, the audit said.
Harmon’s office said it would refer the finding on Carter not performing her duties to the office of Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
That was a repeat finding from the previous audit. The report released Wednesday covered 2019.
County clerks in Kentucky collect fees on a number of activities such as licensing cars and boats and provide revenue for other local services and the state.
Carter acknowledged that her office has not met deadlines at times for filing reports and disbursing money to other agencies.
However, Carter stressed there is no allegation that money is missing from the office and that there has been no wrongdoing by her or her deputies.
Carter said the county fiscal court has not authorized funding for her to have a sufficient amount of help.
The office has improved its performance on tasks such as paying over delinquent property-tax receipts to other agencies, but the lack of staff creates a struggle to meet deadlines, Carter said.
“With our limited ability to hire help we face a near impossible task of keeping all departments reporting and payments current,” Carter told Harmon’s office.
Other findings in the audit included that the clerk’s office was late in turning over fees under the county’s fee-pooling arrangement; didn’t submit required quarterly reports to the Kentucky Department for Local Government; didn’t forward some payments on time to the state; and owed a total of $106,115 to county taxing districts such as the school system from property taxes.
Carter said in response that her office would make those payments by the end of the year.
The audit found that Carter’s office also had not prepared all franchise-tax bills to businesses. The total that had not been billed was $144,087.
Minus a commission to the sheriff’s office, $138,1976 of that was owned to other agencies, including $73,210 to the school system, the audit said.
Carter said she was working on a report to the fiscal court franchise-tax bills and will prepare any outstanding bills by the end of the year.
“We continue to strive to meet all the deadlines, and continue to experience inadequate funding for deputy clerks,” Carter said in her response to the audit. “I work very hard along with my staff, we will continue to find solutions for progress.”
Two prior clerks and a deputy in the county were criminally charged.
In 2016, former Clerk Sheila Blevins and her sister, Jeannie Moore, were sentenced to five years’ probation after the auditor’s office determined $15,680 was missing from the office.
Blevins resigned as part of her guilty plea.
The clerk before Blevins, Reeda Ison, resigned in 2009 after being charged with official misconduct and misapplication of property after audits found deficits in accounts at the office.
Ison agreed to repay more than $27,000
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 12:48 PM.
