Probate office cleared in jury probe

The Elmore County Probate Office was recently cleared by the grand jury of conduct alleged in a report on the office issued by the state’s Examiner of Public Accounts.

The report, originally filed on June 10, 2016, asserts three “charges” with respect to the office. The first is against the office manager at the Millbrook satellite office in the amount of $523.99. The charge asserts: “On April 23, 2013, cash and checks totaling $10,317.59 were collected at the Millbrook Satellite Office, but were not deposited. The failure to deposit the moneys collected was not discovered until June 2013. Subsequently, replacement checks from taxpayers and a surety company totaling $9,793.60 were received and deposited. The remaining $523.99 was not deposited into the official bank account.”

The second charge asserts that during the period of examination by the Examiner (Oct 1, 2010 to September 30, 2015) numerous clerical errors were made by probate office staff which resulted in failure to collect title fees in an amount sufficient to cover title fees which were drafted by the Alabama Department of Revenue resulted in a shortage in the bank account of $705.

The third charge asserts a similar allegation to charge two and claims the account was short $875 after ADOR withdrawal of funds.

In its report to Circuit Judge John Bush, the grand jury stated:

“The grand jury has specifically reviewed the ‘Report on the Office of Judge of Probate, Elmore County, Alabama, October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2015.’ We note particularly the three charges made by the Examiner of Public Accounts on pages 74-75. One of the charges is in the amount of $523.99 and is against Christina Womble, the Office Manager of the Millbrook Tag Office, and is based on a missing bank deposit for which she was not responsible. The other two charges are for $705.00 and $875.00 against Probate Judge Jimmy Stubbs and Probate Judge John E. Enslen respectively, for clerical errors made by tag department clerks covering a period of five years. We find that none of these allegations involve criminal activity on the part of any of the three persons specified. There are no indictable offenses involved in these matters. We further find that none of the three persons acted negligently or unreasonably under the circumstances. It is our recommendation that no further action be taken.”

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Probate office cleared in jury probe