Bond company pays county for Palmertree theft
Published 9:48 am Tuesday, May 17, 2016
The Warren County Board of Supervisors accepted a $100,000 check at Monday’s board meeting for a bond on former Warren County Circuit Clerk Shelly Ashley Palmertree.
Palmertree is presently serving a five-year prison sentence in the Central Mississippi Satellite Facility for women in Flowood for embezzling $12,000 from her office’s civil and criminal accounts in 2012.
She pleaded guilty on March 30, 2015, to stealing an additional $103,736.75 meant for restitution of crime victims from an account under her care between Jan. 1, 2013, until supervisors removed her from office May 15, 2014, after the state’s auditor’s investigators turned up evidence she had declared residence in Madison in 2013.
Palmertree was sentenced to an additional five years on the second theft, to be served with the first sentence.
A security bond company spent two years reviewing the county’s claim to the bond because of Palmertree’s misappropriation of money while in office.
“One of the bonds that was in default because of wrongdoing by Shelly was paid by the bond company,” District 3 supervisor Charles Selmon said.
He said every elected official has a bond on them in case they do anything illegal.
“That means if we do something that’s against the law, then the bonding company will bond us as insurance,” Selmon said.
He wanted the public to know that the case was not over when Palmertree was sentenced, and the county is still working to regain some money.
“Even thought she’s incarcerated, that’s not the end of the picture,” Selmon said. “The picture is Warren County is still trying to recuperate money that is owed.”
The check came first through State Auditor Stacey E. Pickering’s office before it was sent to Warren County because the state had to file the paperwork for the bond. County administrator John Smith said the money would go in the general fund.
Assistant District Attorney Marcie Southerland said Palmertree is continuing to pay a monthly restitution of $1,250 to the district attorney’s office.
Selmon said the board hopes to receive bond money from two other bonding companies in regards to Palmertree for an additional $200,000.
“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the money that was misappropriated,” Selmon said.
The board started their meeting by voting on an interlocal agreement between the county and Mississippi State University for the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
County agent Anna McCain said the agreement will not change extension office operations but simply puts those duties in writing as advised by the United States Department of Agriculture for every county in Mississippi.
“At the last federal audit of the MSU Extension Service they made a recommendation that this agreement be in place just to outline the roles and responsibility of both the MSU Extension Service and the county,” McCain said. “Most other states already have this type of agreement in place.”
The agreement outlines the responsibilities of the county and the university including the hiring process, compensation, discipline, termination and other aspects dealing with the extension agent and staff, which fall under the same policies as the university, and the county agrees to supply an office and materials for the extension service.
Selmon said he had no problem with the agreement itself, but he had reservations about its terms.
He wished to have the agreement terminate at the end of the current board’s term.
“I think it needs to end at our term and let every board decide whether or not they’re going to continue,” Selmon said.
As the agreement is written, the board can review, revise or cancel the agreement at the end of their term Dec. 31, 2019, and if it is not voted on it will automatically renew up to three successive four-year periods before having to be signed again.
However, the agreement can be amended at any time as long as both parties consent.
“I think that we are very lucky that we have supervisors that ask questions and that are engaged because the means that they are very engaged in their job, and they’re making sure that they represent their constituents well,” McCain said.
Selmon’s worries were with the possibility of the agreement automatically renewing without being reviewed first or it being dealt with by the old board before they leave office.
“My main concern is that we don’t tie the hands of the next board,” Selmon said.
He doesn’t want the agreement to be accidentally over looked by any new board members who don’t know that it exists or that it needs to be reviewed. He is concerned the agreement could be forgotten and not brought up again.
“They’re not going to know they need to make a decision whether or not to keep the extension service,” Selmon said.
Board president Richard George did not think there would be any problem because the new members would participate in reviewing the agreement.
“Surely those that would be elected to sit up here would have sense enough to understand to review the agreement,” George said.
Supervisors George, John Arnold and John Carlisle voted in favor while Selmon and William Banks Jr. voted against. McCain said she was thankful of their support that will allow the extension service to continue to serve Warren County.