Clerk of court candidate calls attention to incumbent's hiring decision

A clerk of court candidate is questioning why the incumbent, Elizabeth M. Smith, knowingly hired a temporary, part-time employee who has pending drug charges.

Smith said she hired the woman, a victim of domestic abuse in drug recovery, because she was educated, capable, honest and in need of help. Smith said the employee's primary duties are filing documents. The Beaufort Gazette typically does not identify domestic abuse victims.

The woman was hired about six months ago.

"If this is a condemnable action in the eyes of the voters, let me be condemned," Smith said. "And she's an American in America. Last I checked, you're innocent until proven guilty."

The employee has a trial in Florida scheduled for July and faces charges for possession of cocaine and possession of alprazolam, also known as Xanax, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety disorders and depression, according to the Broward County, Fla., clerk of court's office. Under Florida law, the charges carry a combined maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $15,000 in fines. She has no prior criminal history.

Temporary employees are not subject to background checks, Smith said, though she was aware of the woman's pending charges when she hired her. Smith and her husband, Beaufort County Drug Court judge Manning Smith, said they have helped other individuals in recovery in the past. A third party referred this particular woman to Smith.

Clerk of court candidate W. Warren Alston, a life insurance agent and former police officer who lives in Okatie, raised the hiring issue.

"I think it definitely affects her ability to do her job. It's a display of her lack of good judgment," he said.

Smith, who has been the clerk of court since 2001, said the employee is regularly tested for drugs and has been clean for six months. If the woman fails a drug test, Smith said she would be morally obligated to fire her. Drug use would also violate her employment policies.

The drug charges stem from an August traffic accident in Hollywood, Fla., according to an incident report with the Davie Police Department, which responded to the accident. She was living in Florida at the time and did not work for Smith.

The hire had a security access code to the courthouse, a point that raised flags with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

"(She) has been assigned an employee code that allows her unsupervised access to the courthouse and interior offices during non-business hours which is considered by the Sheriff's (O)ffice to be a breach of security," Capt. Steve Mendoza wrote in a statement recounting an April 25 meeting with the employee, a senior clerk employee, Smith and a second deputy. Mendoza is in charge of courthouse security.

After the meeting, the employee's security code was stripped, Mendoza wrote. Also, Smith changed a policy so no temporary employees -- usually interns and students -- have security codes to access the courthouse and must enter through the front door like the general public.

Sheriff P.J. Tanner said stripping the access code from the employee satisfied his security concerns.

Alston acquired the deputies' statements, which were written at Tanner's request to share with Smith for administrative purposes, through an open records request. Tanner said he didn't know how Alston learned of their existence but speculated he caught wind through the courthouse "rumor mill."

Alston refused to reveal his source.

The Sheriff's Office discovered the employee's pending charges while investigating a jewelry theft she reported, according to Mendoza's statement. Tanner said he learned about the possible security issue when her estranged boyfriend mentioned her drug charges and employment at the county courthouse to an investigator on a crime he reported.

Alston said he recognizes the innocent-until-proven-guilty rationale but said if drug charges had come up with an existing employee, he or she should have been put on administrative leave.

"I think the people of Beaufort County need to know," Alston said. "It definitely impacts on (Smith's) ability to lead."

Smith said she will make an employment decision after the charges are adjudicated.

"I will make the right decision," Smith said.

Smith and her husband said they took issue with the use of sensitive personal information as a political poker chip.

Alston, Smith and a P.R. "Radar" Caulder are vying for the clerk of court seat in the June 10 Republican primary.