Concerned Citizens Group calls for audit of clerks office

                The Concerned Citizens of Franklin County is asking that the county commission audit the clerk of the courts office.

The concerned citizens are a local government watchdog group that often speaks before the county commission on financial and taxation issues.

On Tuesday, group spokesman Alan Pfeiffer said the clerk’s office needs to be audited in light of the 2013 theft of probation payments by Jennifer Brown, an employee of a company called Florida Probation Services which contracts with the county.

Miss Brown is facing felony charges, including grand theft, for pocketing possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Jennifer Brown happens to be the Clerk of the Court’s niece.

But as Clerk of the Court Marcia Johnson has pointed out numerous times, she is the one who reported the thefts as soon as she became aware of them.

Mister Pfeiffer said that the clerk is in an impossible position because of her family relationship with the accused thief versus her moral and legal duties to the people of Franklin County.

He said he felt that the clerk has a conflict of interest that needs to be addressed – and that the clerk’s office cannot police itself.

He recommended that the county seek an external audit of her office.

The county attorney recommended that the commission and the clerk not respond to the allegations, but Marcia Johnson said she felt obligated to say that everything Miser Pfeiffer said was incorrect.

She added that the concerned citizens have never spoken with her about the concerns and said the statement was an attack on her – which she called “hilarious.”

The board took no action on the audit request.

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