The Collin County Observer™

Collin County district Clerk Hannah Kunkle issued a press release Friday on the Texas Ranger's raid on her office. Said Ms. Kunkle:

PRESS RELEASE

I have now had an opportunity to review the allegations that prompted a search warrant on the office of the Collin County District Clerk.

When I announced I was retiring and several candidates filed to run for the office of District Clerk, I clearly instructed all of the employees of this office that there was to be no campaigning during work time for any candidate and that County property was not to be used for the benefit of any candidate. If the authorities had come to me with these allegations, I would have cooperated fully and all of us could have avoided the complete shutdown of the Clerk’s office.

I will be conducting an internal investigation of these allegations and will deal with my findings accordingly. I will not be speaking publicly about this matter until the completion of my investigation and the completion of any ongoing criminal investigation.

Until that time, the District Clerk’s office will continue to be open and serve the needs of the citizens of Collin County.

Hannah Kunkle
Collin County District Clerk

Ms. Kunkle would have us believe that the Texas Rangers were interested in a bit of campaign misconduct. Unfortunately, the press seems to also want us to see last week's raid as a response to some on-the-clock electioneering.

I wish that were the case.

The Texas Rangers have better things to do that to question 5 witnesses, develop over 100 pages of evidence, go to an Austin appeals judge for a search warrant, and then seize dozens of county hard drives over a little unethical campaigning.

The real issue with the District Clerk's Office - the issue that drove the investigation forward, and that caused the large-scale raid was that, according to witnesses, the District Clerk's Office had engaged in an organized conspiracy, perhaps for as long as 20 years, to defraud the taxpayers of Collin County.

District Clerk supervisors maintained a double set of books on employee time off. One set, the official one was turned into the county's HR department for payroll processing. The other was a record of illegal time manipulations designed to allow employees additional paid time off that they were not entitled to.

I spoke to a source at the County Auditor's Office Friday and asked him how such a large-scale fraud could go undetected by audits over so many years. He replied that while the Auditor was working to improve the audit process, such an ingrained system of double-bookkeeping would be almost impossible to detect - unless a whistle blower tipped them off to the problem.

But for years, and until this election, no such whistle blower appeared.

Internal emails and documents discovered by the investigators showed District Clerk's supervisors adding dozens of names and time adjustments to the "Blue Book" where extra time off was granted and tracked. Employees routinely asked for entries to be made in the Blue Book. Several emails refer to "bb" time as an alternative to the County's official Paid Time Off (PTO). An example, "Lauri, I clocked in at 9:15 this morning, so I'll use my lunch and PTO or bb time, OK?"

Although Patricia Crigger, as Chief Deputy District Clerk was a major driver of the "Blue Book" entries, virtually every single supervisor made entries into the Blue Book. Emails show almost 1/2 the employees of the department were the beneficiaries of the illegal Blue book time off.

It seems impossible for Hannah Kunkle not to know what was going on.

Now, the county does not keep its personnel policies top secret. All employees and especially supervisors are aware of the policies on PTO. Every employee that took part in this conspiracy must have known it was illegal.

The emails and evidence collected by Ranger Davidson make clear that the culture at the County District Clerk's office was that of dishonesty. Cheating in time sheets was OK. Hiding records and reporting false data was OK. Stealing was OK.

Under Hannah Kunkle, the supervisors and employees were corrupted. They lied, they stole and they believed it was their right to do so. They engaged in an organized conspiracy to cheat the system. Cheating was rewarded with paid time off.

There were no rewards for being honest, and so no one snitched. There existed a culture of dishonesty.

That is the problem that caused the raid.

The citizens of Collin County were cheated by employees of their justice system. The District Clerk's office is an important and vital adjunct to our courts. They not only keep the court's records, they accept filing fees, forward child support payments, and administer over $3 million in several dedicated bank accounts.

Many defendants whose records the District Clerk's Office receives committed crimes of less import than this, by the court personnel themselves.

This scandal will not be cleaned up until every supervisor who made a Blue Book entry is prosecuted, and every employee who accepted Blue book time is fired.

Cleaning house will not be easy. Hannah Kunkle is an elected official.

If Ms. Kunkle and Ms. Crigger are indicted and convicted of misconduct, they would be automatically removed from office. But the criminal process will take some time and meanwhile the perpetrators of the conspiracy could remain in place.

The Commissioners Court can not fire Hannah Kunkle. She can only be removed by a district judge after a jury trial in what is called a Removal Petition hearing. The Commissioners Court or any single commissioner can ask a judge for a Removal Hearing. (In fact, any Collin County citizen can petition the District Court for a Removal Hearing.)

The Commissioners Court can not fire her staff either. As an elected District Clerk, only Ms. Kunkle can fire a member of her staff. The Commissioners can not keep Patricia Crigger from assuming the post of District Clerk next January. What the court can do is to try to use their power of the budget to squeeze the District Clerk. They can refuse to approve expenditures and to approve new hires. (Monday's Commissioners Court agenda has a new hire in the District Clerk's office needing approval. There is also a request by Ms. Kunkle to advertise for another open position. I hope both will be denied.)

The Commissioners Court needs conduct their own internal investigation, and then if warranted, file a petition for the removal of Hannah Kunkle as District Clerk. The Commissioners Court, the County Administrator, the County Auditor and the County HR Department should also begin a thorough investigation of all departments in order to determine if the cancer in the District Clerk's Office is an isolated case or widespread.

Our society is based on the rule of law. Our rule of law is administered by our courts. We must have complete faith that our courts are run by ethical, law abiding public servants. Here in Collin County, we will need to clean our own house, or risk corrupting the very court system we rely on for our justice.

Bill