 |
| Mike Hammond |
Hammond said that upon taking office in early September last
year, he discovered what he called an “unknown account” that auditors rarely if
ever checked because of its infrequent activity.
He said the account, located at First Tennessee Bank, has
roughly $2.6 million in it but there’s no documentation itemizing specifically
where the money came from.
He said it was set up at least 50 years ago.
Here’s how it worked:
When someone pays a fine to the Knox County Criminal Court
Clerk’s Office, officials are supposed to divvy up the money between a number
of entities, like the state or the sheriff’s office.
However, if someone made a partial payment, the money would get
deposited, and remain there until the fine was completely paid. Only then would
it get distributed.
“They had money going in, but very little going out,”
Hammond said.
The office doesn’t have the records detailing how the
account got every dollar. Hammond, however, said he believes he could turn half
the money in the account over to the county and still have enough to pay off
the various entities as people settle their fines.
Hammond said he will hammer out the details in the coming
weeks, and would move forward only if the county’s law department and the
County Technical Assistance Service sign off on it.
Officials will talk more about the matter during Monday’s
audit committee meeting.
In the meantime, Hammond said from now on, his office will
forward any partial payments over to the various entities, rather than let the
money build up.
The Criminal Court Clerk’s Office is self-sustaining fee
office, meaning it collects fines and fees, and keeps enough to pay the office
employees and build a small reserve. The remaining funds are supposed to be
turned over to the county.
That didn’t always happen under Hammond’s predecessors.
No comments:
Post a Comment