Auditor: No Checks And Balances Made Marionville Theft Possible:

Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee

In a scathing thirty-five page report released October 11th, State Auditor Susan Montee revealed that her office found there were no checks and balances in place that made the alleged theft of money from the city of Marionville by a former city clerk possible.
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Montee says only one person, former city clerk Claudia White, had control of money that came into and left  city hall.
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"This individual handled everything but property taxes, and that was every single thing from paying any of the bills to collecting any of the money, adjusting the utility rates, writing off tax balances," Montee explained.
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The audit uncovered a number of questionable transactions that total at least $17,107 that can be directly tied to White. 

The audit revealed that White paid herself $13,326 for work that she did not perform that was paid from the city's general revenue account.  Early on in the investigation into missing money from city coffers it was alleged that White had not paid her sewer bill in several years, but had adjusted it to reflect she had.  White also wrote several personal checks to the city that were never deposited.
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Bob Duda, who was a former city council member but is now mayor of the small Lawrence County town, says White did not have to report to anyone.  Duda says he has implemented changes at city hall after the uncovered in June of 2009.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Robert "Bob" George

In October of 2009, Lawrence County Prosecutor Bob George charged White with felony stealing but drooped those charges after White's attorney, Don Trotter, pushed for a preliminary hearing.  "We dropped the charges against White with every intention to re-file them as soon as we get an updated report from the Highway Patrol or the auditors office.  The only reason we dismissed them before was so that we could get an accurate figure of the loss.  I anticipate filing those as soon as I have the follow up report,"  said George. 

Montee says it's possible that there is additional money missing from the city, but that their record's only date back to 2004. 

Illegal Immigrant Sentenced In Child Sex Case:

A man from Monett who was scheduled to go to trial on four counts of first-degree statutory sodomy with a child entered an Alford plea as jurors were being called for jury selection yesterday (08-18-10.)

Lawrence County Prosecutor Robert "Bob" George says twenty six year-old Audel Leonardo Lopez Rodriguez was the live in boyfriend of the ten and eleven year-old victim’s mother at the time of the offense. George says when one of the victims told her mom that Rodriguez had been touching her she immediately took the girls to a hospital.

“Our victims were 10 and 11 years of age at the time of the offenses. While both were prepared to testify against the defendant, they were relieved that they did not need to face him in the courtroom.” George noted.

Rodriquez was sentenced to four 15 year sentences that will be served concurrently (at the same time.) After Rodriquez serves at least 12 years behind bars he will be deported to Guatemala because he is in the country illegally.

Court Of Appeals Upholds Circuit Court Decision To Let Jones Remain On Ballot As Judicial Candidate In Lawrence County:

Sam Jones

The Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled that attorney Sam Jones can appear as the Republican candidate for Lawrence County associate circuit judge in November.

Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Robert "Bob" George, who lost in the August 3rd primary election, sued Jones in May. The basis of George's lawsuit was that Jones had not resided in Lawrence County for a year before the election as he lived and worked in and around Kansas City, and that he and his wife, Janice, were registered voters in Jackson County.
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Lawrence County Prosecutor Robert "Bob" George

A circuit court judge in Jasper County ruled against George and he appealed the ruling to the state court of appeals.

The justices cited a previous ruling that not living full-time in Lawrence County did not disqualify Jones. The justices cited the 2004 case of State of Missouri v. Neeley which says, "Residency is a question of fact that is to be determined from the acts and intentions of an individual citizen."

The circuit judge and the appeals court noted that Jones and his wife have a home in Mount Vernon, have ties to the community and fully intended to move back when his job ended in Kansas City. Jones and his wife have remained in the Kansas city area to be near her doctors while she undergoes treatment for cancer.

Jones previously served as associate circuit judge in Lawrence County from 1991 to 1998. Before that, he had a private law practice in Mount Vernon.