There is no excuse for the actions of the clerk of courts. He pockets fees for processing passports and has done so for 17 years.

Along the way, since 1991, he used a Hall County facility, Hall County equipment, Hall County supplies and Hall County labor to generate the fees. The county was not reimbursed. If other elected officials used all, or any, of the foregoing to line their pockets, they would be faced with serious breach of ethics charges, perhaps leading to recall or removal from office.

I agree with Commissioner Bobby Banks that $25,000 is nowhere near enough to pay the county costs. For the years 2004 through 2007, the clerk of courts was paid $194,000 to process approximately 6,500 passport applications (at $30 each). Information for previous years was not furnished in The Times’ article of March 30. Surely at the peak, two or more clerks were required.

The Hall County Board of Commissioners cannot allow this misuse of county property and labor to continue. The commissioners should also demand repayment for use of labor, facility, supplies and equipment. The entire issue should be placed before the grand jury for the purpose of filing ethics charges. At issue is not the collection of fees; it is the costs to the county for which the county was not reimbursed.

Bruce W. Hallowell

Clarkesville