The Collin County Observer™

Why didn't Hannah Kunkle get indicted? Ya know, a fish rots from the head down.

Mrs. Crigger needs to step down and voluntarily remove her name from the November ballot. That is the only fair thing to do for the good of the GOP and the best interest of Collin County Voters. My comment to Crigger "Grow a pair" and get out while the gettins good!

How come the district attorney allowed this to go on for years?

We should put the other candidates back on the ballot.

Corruption. Self-dealing. Lack of personal integrity. Unethical. Abuse of official position. Credibility is what is at stake here. The very credibility of the Collin County District Clerk's office is before the citizens of Collin County. For the good of the Republican Party and the citizens of Collin County, Patricia Crigger should immediately withdraw her name from the Republican ballot in the upcoming General Election of November 2010. To do otherwise will continue to demonstrate her lack of personal integrity and her abundance of arrogance.

Someone with "clean hands" needs to be placed in this slot. This is NOT a job for the timid, weak, corrupt, stupid, .... fill in another blank, guys. We need to start from scratch; and for the record I supported Patricia. Hannah created this "chain" she needs to be held accountable. Yes, we've heard it before "I was only following orders." NO damned excuse. We ALL know right from wrong. Most of us anyway.

It is sad when some people do not want to follow the rules such as the case with Ms. Crigger. If all is true that has been alleged then the district clerk's office has a lot of cleanup and Ms. Crigger since she is involved with all the tampering is not the one to do it. We need someone who will come in and restore dignity to the office.

What a minute...it blows me away that Kunkle was the one in charge...and she gets...NOTHING???? Crigger is #2...Kunkle should step up and take responsibility for what she did. Instead she throws they others under the bus. This is crap! I want the REAL culprit to be charged! Apparently the five supervisors are being railroaded!

Ms. Crigger and her band of thieves need to resign immediately. After the incalculable sums of money they've stolen from the taxpayers through their lying cheating ways they have no business continuing to collect a paycheck from Collin County and Ms Crigger should have no place on the ballot in November. They are all an absolute disgrace to Collin County.

Lets be real here, we are grown adults and we have learned right from wrong. If my boss told me to kill one of my co-workers would I do it. No, because it breaks the law. All parties knew that they were breaking the law and still continued to do it for many years. Life is about choices and they all chose to break the law, now it is time to pay. Now Patricia has another choice in front of her. She can remove her name from the ballot for November and save some self-respect or she can remain on the ballot and get removed from office later. I do agree with Annie O, the District Clerks office needs to rebuild with fresh new employees that can move this office back to where it needs to be.

As Republican Precinct Chair, I believe Patricia absolutely has to remove herself from the November ballot. I also believe that our chairman, Fred Moses, should be calling for her to do so. If I were chairman, I would be.

I am noticing a trend here and it is a dangerous slope. Collin County Republicans are getting this "cowboy" image of we can do whatever we want. That is not the case. Accountability has escaped my Party and it is extremely dissapointing.

I can promise you, the future leaders of this Party believe in ethics...I would like to see some of the current leaders stand for the same...

I agree, Mrs. Crigger needs to be taken of off the November Ballot for the good of
the Republican Party. We need someone
in the District Clerks office that knows
the true definition of Integrity.

This case is an "indicator" of what is going on all over the county...
Other cities & their citizens would like the Texas Rangers to come in & clean house!

Hello Mr. Baumbach,

I am unable to post my comment on the website. Can you please post the following comment in under the story you posted last night about the clerk indictments.

"In my regretful ongoing involvement with the Collin county court personel I have found the employees listed to be the least criminal of all. (although still criminal)

There seem to be two explanations.

1. The agency(ies) investigating are aware that the corruption runs much deeper and they are starting from the top in order to gather as much information as possible on the bottom dwellers who will be charged last.

2. The bottom dwellers (judges, county office holders etc) are far reaching and deep enough into corruption that the 6 people listed for indictment are designated scapegoats, chosen to take the fall for all of the crime that has built up over the past 20 years. If this is the plan than Pride does come before the fall.

I pray it is the former and not the latter. Either way the wind is shaking that house of cards."

Thank you,

ObP

Not only has Hannah Kunkle thrown her Supervisors under the bus, she keeps backing over them. The Blue Book Time goes back further than the Crigger Campaign. Hannah Kunkle is as guilty as the rest of them. Maybe they need to go back and question the Supervisors that held these positions under Hannah before these that are being indicted were a Supervisor. They will see that Blue Book Time existed for many years in the Kunkle Adminsitration. If they give Hannah a polygraph test, how many of you think she would pass? She knew what was going on, or maybe she is not spending enough time in the office. If the Supervisors were running it, then why do we even need to pay the elected official their big salary, when they are not even doing their job! The Texas Rangers need to look further into Hannah Kunkle, that is where this whole thing started!!!!

Congratulations,Bill,
You outfoxed the Dallas Morning News
again,
they are having a hard time keeping up with your records,
like a "day late, & a dollar short".

Bill, is there a way for the party to force Crigger off the ballot? Once she's off, what happens? Do the precinct chairs vote for a replacement? Does the governor replace her? Or, does the next top vote-getter become the nominee for November?

============

The Observer responds:

She is the elected nominee. The Party has no control as to if she is on the ballot or not.

As I understand it, if she withdraws from the race before September, the Republican precinct chairs could choose another candidate.

If she is convicted, the conviction is an absolute bar to taking office, the Board of District Judges would then choose her replacement in office.

I do believe there is still time for a write-in campaign to be launched. But those are very difficult to win.

Perhaps an election expert would care to elaborate more fully....

Bill

Let me remind you in the US you are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This entire mess appears to me to be politically motivated. Those in the "know" realize the DA and the ADAs are arrogant, publicity seeking, and just plain viscous people. Just look how they have gone and are still going after Judge Wooten. Corruption in Collin County is widespread from the Couny Judge and Commissioners on down. I bet they've covered themselves by this time. Kunkle is only guilty of trusting her supervisors. She didn't throw anyone "under the bus" but I bet she will be. And, how in the world could you bring someone in without district clerk's office experience of years to be the District Clerk? I bet the Judges and lawyers who deal with this office on a daily basis would cringe. Unless you, the regular normal citizen are pro se, you will probably never use this office, except for jury duty of course. Bottom line: these people have not been found guilty yet.

Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have dealings with the Collin County Courthouse must know that the individuals listed in the indictment are the least corrupt of the staff. One of two things could explain this.

1. The investigative agency(ies) are aware that corruption runs much deeper than the clerks in the Collin County Government. In charging the lesser criminals they will hopefully accumulate more testimony and evidence to properly charge and incarcerate the Crime Boss(es).
2. The Judges, Commissioners etc who are the crime bosses are so arrogant fearless that they believe they can use the clerks as scapegoats for what they have all been doing the past 20 years. If this is the case read the bible...the pride come before the fall and your house of cards is tumbling down.

Typical Collin County posters.Let's convict someone in the public eye before they have a fair trial.The true villians appear to be Pappa Roach and his henchmen.To take what is at best a misdemener and trump it up to a felony.This reeks of overreaching and is consistent with the DAs office political prosecution.Dragging these poor ladies through the mud may make the selfrightous feel better about themselves but it will destroy the best clerk's office that ever existed.Sad day in Collin County....

Bill,
So who sits on the "Board of District
Judges"?

Just give us the unvarnished truth,
please.

This blatant display of public corruption on the part of Patricia Crigger and her cronies cannot be tolerated by the taxpayers of Collin County or the Republican Party. Once again, the "Old Guard" in their arrogance believe that they are untouchable and without accountability. I, for one, am calling for Ms. Crigger to remove her name from the Republican ballot for the November 2010 election. I would encourage Collin County voters to email the Republican Chair, Fred Moses (fred@tes.com) and demand that he seek her removal from the ballot. Patricia, you have cost us enough. Don't make the taxpayers spend any more money in having you removed via the Commissioners Court.

This is an absolute disgrace for the citizens of Collin County to have Patricia Crigger and her employees being indicted for this horrific behavior and clear violations of the law. Patricia Crigger should not be allowed to continue to represent the citizens of Collin County in ANY fashion!!! It is apparent she is not ethical by ANY stretch of that word!!!! Patricia Crigger should absolutely remove herself from the November ballot. As citizens of Collin County, we want our officials to resound accountability and integrity. I feel all the officials with the power to do so should demand Ms. Crigger to do what is in the best interest of all citizens and resign from the election and take her name off the November ballot. As citizens, we should all demand that Patricia Crigger be removed from the November ballot. It will be a disgrace to have Patricia Crigger’s name on ANY election ballot. We need someone to lead the District Clerks office that exhibits the true definition of integrity and honesty!!!!

This is nothing but a witch hunt by Alma Hays and her boyfriend in the district attny. office.Everyone knows of the personal relationship they have.These clerks that are charged were using thier personel time off while they were campaining for Patrica.Alma Hays is a poor loser.

I do not believe tampering with government documents should be or is a misdemeanor altho I am not an attorney. These "poor ladies" knew what they were doing was wrong or else why would they have this "blue book". I agree Wooten seems politically motivated, but this does not seem to be - have you read the affidavits attached to the search warrants. "poor ladies" is the last phrase I would use to describe these women.

Like OMG says above, these folks are innocent till proven guilty. That said, it looks bad for them. These folks were just following orders from above. The practice of keeping the blue book time records has been going on for years and years, and they were just doing what they were told to do. It might be questionable, but how many of you have ever stood up and told your boss no when told to do something a certain way? Fear of losing your job is a great incentive to not rock the boat. It was an accepted practice long before these folks were supervisors, and as an elected official, I suppose that many believe she has the right to run her dept. as she wishes. I believe like others that these folks may not be the ones that should truly be under the gun.

County Watcher, you are kidding me with the, "she has the right to run her dept as she wishes." This is taxpayer money that you are talking about. She doesn't have the right to waste it just because she wants to. Gary, I find it amusing that you are blaming Ms. Hays for Ms. Criggers troubles instead of Ms. Crigger. Ms. Hays didn't report these violations to the Texas Rangers. Five (5) of Ms. Criggers employee's that were being strongarmed, harrassed and bullied to work on her campaign were the ones that turned her in. Did ya bother to read the Rangers Search Warrant or the supporting affidavit. I don't see Ms. Hays' name anywhere on it. Grow up Gary, its time for Ms. Crigger and her girls to take responsibility for their own actions. Quit making excuses for them.

Hannah Kunkle started the Blue Book when she took office, so she is in NO way blameless. It's not her fault that her supervisors chose to use the system in an unethical and abusive manner, but had she not started the Blue Book system to begin with, there would not have been potential for abuse. Ignorance is no defense against the law.

At issue is the systematic and ongoing misappropriation of taxpayer money and trust. I'm a Collin County taxpayer, as is everyone who lives and/or works in Collin County and I'm VERY angered. The "ladies" in question may not have been proven guilty yet, but in my mind, where there's smoke, there's fire.

To county watcher, yes....Hannah is an elected official and as such should be allowed to run her office as she sees fit, WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS of the law, and KNOWINGLY with full disclosure and in full view of the public. The Blue Book was a well-kept "secret" within the DC's office for years, and that is neither within the law nor within full view of the public.

The current witch hunt may be politically motivated, I really don’t care. I say let’s have more political motivation if it brings to light these abuses of power…..no candidate or elected official need worry if they haven’t participated in any illegal activity. Good incentive to stay on the right side of the law (and ethics, which are not one and the same), if you ask me!

I my supervisor asked me to break the law, I would most certainly have issues with it and refuse to do such. That is not the kind of supervisor I want to work for anyway. People are making this way too difficult. I state again, they knew what they were doing was wrong and still chose to do it.

I love how people show their intelligence in convicting people before they have even been put on trial. That shows how ignortant people truly are. Someone needs to pull the numbers and see how bad the turn over rate was when Hannah Kunkle took office versus what it is today. The incentives that are being reported were probably great to the employees that are paid barely anything. Even though they may have been wrong if the allegations are true to my knowlege the District Clerk's office has always been one of the most efficient office at the County. If they were missing days and the tax payers were suffering because things weren't getting done that is one thing but up until now everything has been great. Patricia Crigger ran a campaign free of mud slinging while her opponent Alma Hays was slinging mud from the start to the extent that one of her family members screamed profanities at Crigger supporters at one of the election sights. Simply and completely trash. This is a pure case of being a "sore loser" and that is very sad. Unfortunately, she will have to answer for the way she has acted and I feel sorry for her. Of course this is politically motivated this is exactly what politics are about. The sad part is, Patricia wanted nothing more than to continue running the clerks office with the same efficiency. Bottom line is, if we are going to serioously charge 6 women with a crime that is saved for drug dealers and gangs it is a very sad day that the public would let this happen. I've got news for you, every person complains about how their tax money is spent, well open your eyes to what your tax money is really wasted on. I guarantee you the work that is done out of the district clerks office is done with less mistakes than any other office and with more volume than any other office. Check the facts before you blast people that you know nothing about.

Again, a fish rots from the head down. Did you hear me, Hannah?

Hey Crigger supporter, post your real name. I am coming out hoping that she goes down in flames, why can't you openly praise her?

Crigger Backer, The good news for you is that the end appears to be at hand. As far as the turnover improvement with the clerk's office, most companies turn over rate would improve if you offer the employees 30 days off with pay each year. Who would leave that and the County benefits? Your baseless slams against Ms. Hays reveal your true colors. IT'S THE STEALING GOOFY... CAN YOU GET THAT?

Alma Hays ran a mud slings campaign from start to finish.She cant stand the fact that she lost the election after spending so much of her own out of pocket money trying to buy the election.And to roger spann you dont know what you are talking about.This is a typical witch hunt brought on by her.All these member of the clerks office have between 15-and 20 years of service with collin county with unblemished records.Do you really think they just up and decided to start breaking the law? No they didnt.They used thier own vacation days and personal time to take off for campaining.Thats what chaps Almas butt.She didnt have the resources to do that.The citizens of collin county relly need to thank the voter for not electing Alma Hays.

This discussion is degenerating.

I want to make a couple of points that seem germane:

1. It doesn't matter if Alma Hays, John Roach, Mother Theresa or Joseph Stalin first brought the charges against these supervisors. The fact is that the charges were investigated by an independent detective -- Texas Ranger A.P. Davidson, whose reputation is sterling. He's no pawn of either the DA nor of any political campaign.

2. While these ladies are innocent until found guilty in a court of law, the evidence that has so far been released appears to be damning enough that they should be immediately placed on a leave of absence. To have them working for the courts while under this cloud makes a mockery of our judicial system.

3. I am not alone in finding it hard to believe that Hannah Kunkle was not aware of and, in fact approved, the entire "Blue Book" system. She needs to step down immediately from day to day operations, or the Commissioners Court should take action to see that she in no way can control the operations of the District Clerk's Office. I believe she will, in the end, be indicted. When that happens, a Removal Petition should be filed, seeking her removal from office.

4. It is the integrity of our courts that is important here. Judge Rusch was correct in recusing himself. The District Attorney's office should do the same. These cases cry out for an independent prosecuter.

5. Our system of government is, in a large part, based on trust. If we lose faith in the fairness of our courts, we lose faith in ourselves as Americans. Once again I'll say that it is the integrity of our court system that is important here. Those who serve our courts must hold themselves to the absolute highest standard of honesty and fairness. Our Democracy requires no less.

Bill

Good points Bill. I disagree with the charges that Alma Hays' campaign slug mud. As to the people from the clerk's office taking their own time - that is what it looked like but what has been found is that they would have been "given these days" back at some point this year - that is part of what the blue book was all about. People would clock in for them and make it look like they were there - it is called "badging".
Again we need integrity restored to this office.

Instead of having a backroom deal decide the next district clerk, why shouldn't the VOTERS (a novel idea indeed) get to choose? This is exactly WHY on-party government MUST end in Collin County! But it won't until 1) the Democrats actually ACT like a part of standing and start fielding candidates for ALL county offices; and 2) Collin voters start examining how corrupt the "business as usual" attitude of the GOP has stained everything that happens in the courthouse.
NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNTIL THE FACES THEMSELVES ARE CHANED AS WELL AS THE AFFILIATION! Say what you will about Democrats, they CANNOT be as corrupt as this group, the DA's office, the Commissioners and the various JPs and courts. If you don't think so, just look at the records. Proof in knee-deep in the pudding.

"All these member of the clerks office have between 15-and 20 years of service with collin county with unblemished records.Do you really think they just up and decided to start breaking the law? No they didnt." Gary

Uh, no they didn't just "up and decide" to start breaking the law; it appears as if breaking the law was standard operating procedure in the clerk's office for a really, really long time.

Let the facts come out, and then let the investigations continue into corruption and sexual escapades of the JP's offices, and how Sheriff's dept employees cover for troublesome kinfolk. BTW Scuttlebut is Hannah's indictment will come next week.

Like roger Spann and Dear OMG above, I am not stating that what happened wasn't wrong. The point I am making is that many people would not question their boss, an elected official, as to whether the practice of using the blue book is wrong or questionable. I think that most of the time the prevailing attitude would be "who am I to question an elected official who has been running this department for years?" Without being a lawyer, how would anyone know whether this practice was legal or not? Also, everyone knows its taxpayer money, and elected officials shouldn't waste it, but that does not discourage at all the attitude of "I can do what I want with my department" that many elected officials exhibit. That attitude carries a lot of weight, especially on employees in a down economy. Though, all that said, the employees that didn't take advantage of this "incentive," as it was described above, have proven to be the wisest ones!

Really people...like it was pointed out previously..whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty??? Less you have walked in any of these employees shoes you really have no idea of the actual facts. Patricia Crigger had enough supporters both in the office and out that she did not have to bully anyone for support.From all that I have seen and heard (aside from this investigation) Ms. Crigger appears to be a very hard working, passionate, God fearing woman. Let the courts do their job and in the meantime let these employees do their jobs. If the employees used time that was not theres to use then require them to pay it back. Sadly there are still some very naive people in the world who may actually not realize that what Hannah Kunkle established was againist the law. If Hannah found a way in which to compensate employees when the commisioners would not give them adequate raises then you have to wonder if what she did was so terribly wrong. The dedication from Hannahs employees was by far the strongest of most offices in the county. Stacy Kemp has strong employee backing. But there are MANY offices in Collin County that do not have the undying support of their employees. To many employees Collin County is just a job whereas many years ago employees were extremely proud of the job they held with the county. But there are many elected officials and supervisors that could care less about their employees. I wish Hannah weren't "throwing her employees under the bus" as it appears, but hopefully she will come forward and stand up for those that have always been proud to work at the District Clerks office.

God bless the indicted employees in the District Clerks office. Just remember the Lord walks with each of you every day. Be strong and the good in all will perservere.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!! LOCK UP all of THE COLLIN COUNTY CROOKS and END the CULTURE OF CORRUPTION..

How can we get the "Texas Rangers" to come clean up our city?
Our corruption is far worse than this.

Disgusted Taxpayer:
First of all, I did not support either candidate for this race - although I figured Crigger would win with all of the support from the DC's office and other elected officials, especially judges & attorneys. I honestly didn't care who won, as long as the new District Clerk would run an efficient and ethical office. Still, to this day, I don't fully understand why this is even an elected position - although I have been told that if it were appointed or hired, it would be even more corrupt, which may very well be true. The DC does not have any legislative or judicial power - so their party affiliation makes no difference to me, as long as they are competent and ethical.

My main issue with your comments (and others that I've read on this topic from your fellow Crigger supporters) is that somehow you seem to feel that these supervisors were entitled to reward their employees with illegal, back-door perks on the taxpayer's dime - simply because you think that they weren't paid enough to begin with?? Really?? You blame the Commissioners for not approving raises or paying the employees adequately... and it is obvious that you are one of those that benefited from these perks - or you are somehow otherwise very close to this situation. So, using your alternate rules as justification for additional compensation, would you also lobby for allowing the employees in the District Clerk's office to help themselves to the office supply cabinet for their own personal use? How about taking home coffee when they happened to run out of their own personal stash at home? Or use the color copier to make copies of their personal Christmas letters? All of these are examples of EMPLOYEE THEFT - and they cost us taxpayers real money!!! Your rationale of excusing the actions of Crigger and the other supervisors just because you felt like the employees weren't paid enough is deplorable! I hope you are NEVER elevated to a position of supervisor with those kind of ethics... but who knows, you may already be there... God help us all...

Dear conservative Frisco voter. You "knew" Crigger would win but yet you failed to exercise your right vote. Those that don't bother to take pride in their constitutional rights should not complain about those that get out and support their candidate (either Hays or Crigger)and place their votes. And no I am not one of the indicted victims. I am just a long time county tax payer that has seen many things like this go on through the years in many political offices.Guess you only read the paper from time to time because there is scandal in many government offices.

Maybe if you were "such a concerned citizen" you would go to bat for your county employees and see that they get just pay for all that they do for you. Most of these departments are NOT allowed to earn overtime.You don't have to be an employee to know this.Read the commsioners court notes. I can empathise with these employees and am not employed by the county. Gosh I guess you think someone has to work there to be able to think people are human? These people have made mistakes and need to be held accountable but they are not murders or child molesters.
Yet many times you have employees that are dedicated to the customer they are trying to assist and therefore stay over to complete the task. But I guess you wouldn't have a problem if they worked for free would you? Oh but yes you stated you are a CONSERVATIVE FRISCO VOTER. As in conservative does that mean you don't vote but can certainly criticize when when you did nothing to help on either side? My you are conservative. You failed to acknowledge that I believe they should be held accountable for time they abused. They should have to compensate their employers for any time wrongly used. Whether it be deducted from their paychecks or whatever form the county uses to balance their system. But just as sonmeone stated in a previous email.Many people make a personal phone call on company time or run late coming back from lunch or leave a "few" minutes early. These too are theft. What about leaving something in your car that you need to check on personally and running back out to retrieve it. That too is squandering your employers money.
You were the one that went to great lengths about theft of coffee, printer use etc. Sounds as if you are quite the accomplished employment abuser. Can you look in the mirror and say with all honesty that you have not committed any of these infractions? If you can then good for you. The world should have more people like you that give employers 100% in their alloted work time. Like I stated previously until you work in the office where the allegations have taken place no one including myself knows the entire story. And if you think people are convicted on lies then read the newspaper . There is hardly a day that goes by that someone is being released from prison for false imprisonment. So Conservative Frisco Voter think about that before you want these people terminated and sent to jail. What if it were your aunt or sister or neighbor or friend. Would you not believe in the right to a fair trial. You obviously live is a very sheltered world and are not aware of what goes on in day to day life. Good luck to you when the real world shows up someday.

Disgusted taxpayer is disgusting. I mean, c'mon! You are impliedly justifiying the thievery of these CRIMINALS by saying that they did what they did because they were underpaid. That's a bunch of crap, and you know it. Or should.

"The point I am making is that many people would not question their boss, an elected official, as to whether the practice of using the blue book is wrong or questionable. I think that most of the time the prevailing attitude would be "who am I to question an elected official who has been running this department for years?" Without being a lawyer, how would anyone know whether this practice was legal or not?" -- county watcher.

Every employee at the County has an employee handbook, with HR's clearly stated policies regarding timekeeping in it. That is the employee's go to reference for what is allowed or not allowed. Beyond that, anyone with even a small bit of sense could tell that being compensated for the same time twice is wrong, it's double dipping. They took PAID time off to work on Crigger's campaign (paid once), then were badged in and out as if they were at work for an equal amount of time to compensate them for having used PTO for the campaign (paid twice). How can anyone not see the wrong in that?

• Who said I failed to exercise my right to vote. I said that I did not support either candidate and I gave you the reasons for that. I did vote – and for the record, I made up my mind just before the election and I voted for Crigger. I didn’t expect you to be one of the indicted county employees – but I did think that you were a county employee yourself, based upon your justification of the blue book time. If you are not, then I was wrong about that one – just couldn’t figure out why you were such a die-hard supporter of Crigger and this practice.
• Yes, I do know that there’s scandal in many government offices – however, I’m more surprised when I see people openly try to justify or explain the behavior, as you have here on this forum.
• Why should I go to bat for the county employees if they are being paid commensurate to their job duties and in line with other counties? I trust the commissioners and the human resources department to figure all of that out – that’s part of what my taxes pay for. Besides, the employees have accepted their positions of employment with the county – and if they feel they deserve more, that’s up to them to justify it for themselves. I do know that the benefits package currently offered to county employees is very lucrative – much beyond what is available in the majority of the private sector to the rest of us (i.e. 17% match on retirement for example). These employees also were aware that they could not earn overtime when they accepted the job – so I don’t feel sorry for them at all.
• Thinking people are human is not the issue – I do realize that Ms. Crigger and the rest of those indicted are human (but not “victims” as you stated) – and I don’t see that they are being treated as anything less than human. Nobody has called them murderers or child molesters – unless it has been others who have commented on the blog.
• No, I don’t have a problem if they work for free – that’s their choice. As far as I understand, they close early for many services so they can finish their work after the customers were no longer in the office. But, I do not think the county should be obligated to pay people if they choose to stay late. All of those policies and procedures are spelled out in the county guidelines –
• As I stated, yes, I voted – and endorsed many candidates on the ballot… just not either one for District Clerk. I walked for some candidates, financially backed others, put up signs for 3 throughout our precinct, and sent out several e-mails with our personal recommendations. However, I was not passionate about this race for the reasons stated earlier.
• I’m glad that you believe they should be held accountable – but please, don’t undermine your own position by trying to justify the behavior.
• Yes, those other examples you gave are also theft of time, and no, I’m not the employment abuser – but I’ve seen it happen plenty of times and it’s wrong (but thanks anyway for trying to throw me under the bus with the others – but you failed).
• Yes, I can look in the mirror and say that I haven’t done that – can you? I hope so, and if so – good for you as well. I have the same sentiments (there should be more…)
• You’re right, we don’t know the entire story, but apparently there was enough evidence for indictment – which is where my problem is… I haven’t commented or spoken of this until now – because I was hoping it wasn’t as bad as was reported… Sadly, it was.
• Yes, people are convicted on lies all the time – however, in this case, the practice is well documented and information came from multiple sources. Yes, I believe in the right to a fair trial – and if the evidence is false, then their defense attorneys have a lot of work to do. However, I do expect that the attorneys will spend most of their time trying to get the evidence deemed as inadmissible in court – not coming up with new evidence to support their innocence. But, we will see – and if they are innocent – there should be an investigation into how the evidence was strong enough in the first place to indict.
• No, I’m not living in a sheltered world at all – and I do realize that this happens frequently. I just wish it was discovered and investigated more often as well.

I know the indictees personally, I like them well enough, but no one is above the law, and certainly what they did is an example of arrogance that can lead to ethiclessness. The idea they aren't paid enough is rediculous...is it ok for the checker at the grocery store to charge for extra hours they didn't work, or for a mercantile clerk to steal to make up for wages?
I don't know what any of them were paid, but I KNOW FOR A FACT that at least one of them averaged several vacations a year, to Paris, Cancun, New York, ect...and it wasn't on the husbands dime because there wasn't a husband. This same employee has recently invested in new vehicles and expensive toys...a 12,000 dollar fully loaded four wheeler for example. looked like to me the county must have been compensating pretty well. And it certainly seems as if there was plenty of time off for vacations.

During the campaign, I wondered how and why the rank and file members of the district clerk's office were motivated to campaign day in and day out for Ms. Crigger. Their involvement was way beyond what could reasonably be expected from an employee. The recent allegations make it clear that paid time off for campaigning was a big part of that motivation, but Hannah Kunkle, Patricia Crigger, and the five others indicted along with Crigger, had motivation of another sort entirely. They had to make sure that someone entrenched in and willing to continue their criminal behavior, ie, Ms. Crigger, was elected. If an "outsider" were elected, their dirty little system would be exposed. Their underhanded tactics and the blatant lies spread about the other candidate, which continue to this day, are proof there was no amount or type of mud slinging campaigning that was beneath them. Jokes on them I guess, busted anyway. Ain't karma a bitch?

I wonder how Crigger & Friends will like: Interacting with all the people they gave the run around while they were clerks. Talking to their children & Grandchildren through plexiglass. Seeing how the ankle monitor goes with Capri pants.

Just for the record.....I'm not sure if Sherry Bell is still supervisor or not, Becky Littrell IS NOT WHAT SO EVER A SUPERVISOR (unless she became on recently), Amy Matthis is NOT a supervisor (unless recently) and Marcia Simpson IS NOT a supervisor (unless recently)...maybe ya'll need to get your S---T straight with tiles...AND YES Hannah Kunnkle SHOULD be responsible for what has been going on ALL these years, she knows what went on , shes the one that approved eveything. BUT first HR needs to be investigated for letting this happen...didnt they see what was going on with payroll and insurance stuff???? Then you have the D.A.'s office, heres another place that should be investigated.

I agree with Disgusted Taxpayer that the biggest motivation in all this was if an "outsider" were elected, their dirty little system would be exposed. Most everybody who is employed at one time or another has fudged on making personal phone calls or leaving early or arriving late of making personal Xerox copies or surfing the internet. But many people give extra time to the company as well. The thing that seems to be screaming here is what about the head of the beast? The Blue Book????? Why is that even allowed ANYWHERE? That is a Department of Labor suit just waiing to happen. And to be honest, whether these women are "scapegoats" or not, the fact is that people who get caught in dishonesty and crime usually have been practicing it for a long while and they just got sloppy thinking they would not get caught.