Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson spoke with Deltaplex News on Tuesday regarding the issue of email service for county workers being shut off due to lack of payment.
Robinson told Deltaplex News that Jefferson County Clerk Shawndra Taggart did not make payment to the email vendor, leading to the shut off of services.
Taggart responded to Deltaplex News with a statement of her own. That statement is shared below:
It has been brought to my attention that the County Judge has released a statement regarding non-
payment of the county’s email system and faulting the County Clerk’s office for failure to pay the
vendor.
Please note that all bills that are submitted to the County Clerk’s office that follow State Law and/or
Legislative Auditor requirements have been paid and will continue to be paid.
The County Judge and his staff have failed to submit the proper documentation needed to pay their
county credit card bill after several attempts. My staff reviewed the submitted bill and assorted the bill
based on what could be verified as receipts to match the charges, but the County Judge’s Chief of Staff
Rosetta Giddens advised my Accounts Payable Clerk that she did not want to do what we recommended.
Ms. Giddens kept the bill and never re-submitted it to my office.
The County Judge has failed to inform the Constituents of Jefferson County that the delay in payment to this vendor and several others within his purview is due to overspending of his 2024 budget as well as his failure to submit required receipts and proper documentation as required by all departments to remain in compliance with Legislative Audit.
The County Judge wants my office to disregard the law to accommodate him being able to pay bills
beyond his approved budget. The County Judge depleted his 2024 budget in various categories and
therefore payments to any vendors in those categories could not be made for several months.
Once the County Judge had additional appropriation and the bill was submitted, they lacked the supporting documentation, and the bill was sent back to their office as we do with any other office.
The County Judge wants the public to believe that this is a personal attack because of my association
with Quorum Court members that he disagrees with but that could not be furthermore from the truth.
The County Judge should take a step back and self-reflect on why he continues to make things personal
as every decision that I have made has been backed by the Arkansas Constitution, Legislative Auditors
and/or Association of Arkansas Counties attorneys.
This is merely another one of the County Judge’s attempts to bulldoze his way into having my office
disregard laws in place to accommodate what he wants and not what is required.
The County Judge attempting to assert his unauthorized authority back in April, by refusing to sign off on payroll because he wanted employees who are not under his supervision to not be paid, is just another example of his “Do it my way or I will find a way to manipulate you into do it.”
This manipulation tactic is old and quite frankly tiresome as he attempts to use the media to bulldoze his way into getting what he wants with disregard to policies and procedures.
The County Judge is welcome to submit his credit card bill along with supporting receipts and documentation and the bill will be paid.
Anyone who works for local or state government should understand that you cannot make charges on a company credit card and not provide receipts to justify the purchase.
Thank you for your trust in me as I stand committed to serving all Jefferson County citizens with the
upmost integrity.
I am honored to serve Jefferson County.
Shawndra Taggart
Jefferson County Clerk
