A second case of delayed payments from the circuit clerk’s office to come to light since the ouster of Shelly Ashley-Palmertree will cut in half what’s left of one of two accounts frozen in the wake of the office’s problems, according to an order signed Friday.

A $13,098 check is to be paid to the complainant in a felony bad check case from 2002 once funds are unfrozen from a criminal holding account, Circuit Judge M. James Chaney ruled Friday during a show-cause hearing. Warren County agreed Monday to unfreeze the account, kept at BancorpSouth and which held $32,640.99 when Palmertree was removed from office May 19. Circuit Clerk Greg Peltz, as custodian of the circuit court system’s registry, will release the funds once the account is unfrozen.

“I discussed it with (county administrator) John Smith, who testified Friday, and we both thought it best to go ahead and put that money in the hands of the circuit clerk to be held, pending further claims,” former board attorney Marcie Southerland told county supervisors before the board accepted the order.

The case, State of Mississippi v. Larry White, involved a bad check for $16,000 to computer repair shop Micro Systems, according to court filings. Former circuit clerk Larry Ashley signed an indictment in the case on July 15, 2002. The defendant paid no restitution until April 2014, Southerland said. The account was frozen a month later when the board declared the circuit clerk’s office vacant. Friday’s hearing was brought by counsel for Wayne Procell, noted in the order as the recipient of the restitution payment.

Supervisors prompted Southerland, who took a job with the District Attorney’s Office last week, to point out what happens to the money — and perhaps other cases of unpaid claims yet to be filed — in terms of Tuesday’s runoff.

“With the election right on the brink of happening, what happens to that money if Greg Peltz is not re-elected?” District 1 Supervisor John Arnold asked.

“That money is transferred to the next circuit clerk,” Southerland said.

On Oct. 3, $36,000 was ordered paid to Lisa Sessums to settle a civil matter involving the sale of firearms by her husband, the late Dr. Hildon H. Sessums Jr.. County supervisors have said they’d appeal on procedural grounds a subsequent order in the case by County Judge Johnny Price that said the county had to pay Palmertree $18,541 from funds on hand rather than from the frozen civil account.

Palmertree was sentenced to a five-year jail sentence for embezzling $12,000 from the two holding accounts on two occasions in 2012. A civil case involving more than $1.04 million in payments above the state’s salary cap for circuit clerks and questionable amounts paid to her predecessor in office, Larry Ashley, is expected to continue in January in Hinds County Chancery Court. The amount covers activity from 2006 to 2011 and includes interest and investigative costs.

Peltz and former school board member Jan Hyland Daigre face off in a Nov. 25 runoff to finish Palmertree’s term. Daigre and Peltz finished 1-2 in a five-person special election. Supervisors had called the special election to ensure the office was filled for the remainder of the term.

Election officials estimate it will cost $50,000 to hold the runoff. Costs are tied to paying poll workers, contractors and preparing ballots on time.