Clerk of Superior Court Clerk Joan Griffies believes the investigation into missing funds in her office will be completed “a lot sooner” than most people think.

Griffies called in Coweta District Attorney Pete Skandalakis and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in February after determining some filing fees were missing from her office.

She said the missing amount is in the “thousands” of dollars and Skandalakis confirmed an investigation is ongoing, but could not comment on any possible suspects.

The investigation follows a Georgia Department of Labor dispute between Griffies and former deputy clerk Mary Jane Thompson, who is now running for the clerk position against Griffies.

According to the Labor Department's findings of fact, obtained by The Citizen Review through the Georgia Open Records Act, the investigation started Feb. 9.

Griffies called Thompson and another deputy clerk into the office to discuss the missing funds, the documents say.

Griffies told both clerks that she had “hard decisions to make” and would be calling in Skandalakis to investigate.

Later that day, Thompson asked Griffies if the clerk wanted Thompson to leave her job, and Griffies advised Thompson that the decision was Thompson's and the investigation was not complete, according to the documents.

Thompson told Griffies she would probably be resigning, but she had a doctor's appointment Feb. 11 and wanted her insurance to cover it.

Griffies agreed to allow her to resign Feb. 11 and told her it would not be necessary to report the rest of the week, according to the Labor Department.

On Feb. 11, Griffies was notified Thompson was not resigning and she would report to work Feb. 14. Thompson reported to work Feb. 14, but was not allowed to work, the documents say.

Thompson took the incident before the Georgia Department of Labor and won an appeal that said Griffies did not prove her claim that Thompson resigned.

Added to the dispute is the fact that Thompson qualified in April to run against Griffies in June for clerk of court.

“It's not easy to do the right thing in a political year. This has nothing to do with the election; it's about doing what's right,” Griffies said.

She emphasized the investigation is being done totally independent of her and she looks forward to a vigorous election campaign.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

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