Vollor withdraws from civil suit

Delays in finding a day where everyone involved in the criminal case against former Warren County Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree is free might push back the entire matter beyond next week’s trial date, the appointed judge in the case said Tuesday as the ousted clerk searched for a new attorney in drawn-out civil proceedings.

Terms of an agreement in the works surfaced last week as county supervisors were updated on the case. A hearing had been expected before a trial was to start Monday.

Reached Tuesday, retired judge Henry Lackey, appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court to hear arguments in the case, said nothing was imminent.

“We’re attempting to find a date convenient to all the parties,” Lackey said from his Winston County home.

County supervisors were told a plea agreement under which Palmertree would receive a five-year suspended sentence was being finalized. The $12,000 the state accuses her of embezzling from her office funds in 2012 would be paid as restitution to the county. Case files showed she was accused of inappropriately transferring that money from her office’s criminal and civil accounts to her personal account on two occasions in 2012. Attorney General Jim Hood’s office is prosecuting the case. Palmertree is represented by Jackson attorney Joe Hollomon.

Palmertree was removed from office by county supervisors when evidence surfaced that she had declared residence in Madison County in 2013. The board appointed to the post Greg Peltz, who faces four opponents in a special election to take place alongside other races Nov. 4.

A separate civil case initiated in March 2013 by the ousted clerk involving more than $1 million in fees collected by Palmertree’s office remains active in Hinds County Chancery Court.

At issue is whether Palmertree owes $671,751.75 in excessive salary and questionable subcontractor payments to her father and predecessor in office, Larry Ashley, between 2006 and 2011. Interest and investigative costs push that to $1.04 million, according to State Auditor Stacey Pickering, who countered the former clerk’s suit against him in the matter. A third party in the case is the clerk’s former bonding company, CNA Surety. The worldwide insurer has argued against liability in the matter.

In recent court filings, attorney Frank Vollor withdrew as Palmertree’s lawyer in the case. Documents indicated she could no longer pay him.

Vollor, a retired 20-year judge for the Ninth Circuit District, said in an affidavit he was pulling out of the case “because my client terminated me due to economic reasons.” Chancellor Dewayne Thomas signed off on the request Tuesday.

Another chunk of money totaling $98,794, was identified in the county’s audit for 2013 and involves fees paid to attorneys and accountants during the civil case. The court last year had asked her to stop paying for her legal defense out of her office’s funds. It was unclear whether the state and county would amend the civil matter further to include activity in 2013.