Friday, December 22, 2000
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Friday, December 22, 2000 |
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Commission speks out on clerk's charges By JOHN THOMPSON The Coweta County Commission stepped into the fray last week over the indictments of recently elected Clerk of Superior Court Mary Jane Thompson. Thompson was indicted on 18 charges last week concerning a missing $8,400 from the clerk's office last spring when she worked as deputy clerk. Commissioner Lawrence Nelms responded to the recent indictments by issuing a statement during the Dec. 14 commission meeting. "Recent newspaper articles have indicated that the Board of Commissioners support the Superior Court clerk-elect and that the board has been removed from activities surrounding the alleged problems that resulted in the recent indictment of Clerk-elect Mary Jane Thompson by the Coweta County Grand Jury," Nelms said. Nelms maintained the county was not aware of the situation until the investigation was requested. "In actuality, first knowledge of any alleged problems came when Superior Court Clerk Joan Griffies mentioned the alleged problems to County Attorney Mitch Powell in the early months of this year. Mr. Powell suggested that if Ms. Griffies thought there were such problems, she should ask for an investigation," he added. "Ms. Griffies then met with the Board of Commissioners concerning the alleged problems with the board agreeing that if she thought there were such problems, an investigation should be requested and suggested that she should go to the district attorney or GBI to request an investigation. Ms. Griffies then wrote a letter to District Attorney Pete Skandalakis and he requested an investigation by the GBI," he said. The county was totally cooperative during the investigation, Nelms said. "During its investigation, the GBI asked for a forensic audit of the clerk of Superior Court's books and asked the county to pay for that audit. The Board of Commissioners agreed and funded the audit, which was performed by the same firm which currently conducts the county's annual audit," Nelms said in his formal statement. "Any comments made concerning the recent indictment of the Superior Court clerk-elect were not made as a part of any meeting of the Board of Commissioners; the comments were made as individuals talking to a reporter, not as an official position," he added. "If the comments published are read, the term 'support' does not appear. The comments made indicated concern and the fact that all people are innocent until proven guilty. Nothing else should be drawn from those comments."
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