Account shows checks to Driver
By Mike Bowie
Evening Times Staff Writer
Checks for several thousand dollars marked for computer equipment were written to Crittenden County Juvenile Department director Jerry Driver in 1994 and 1995 from an account maintained by his office.
The account, which wasn't run through the county treasurer's office like other county funds, was closed last year. Driver told county justices of the peace two weeks ago he maintained the account because he had been instructed by a juvenile judge that the money, from fees paid by juvenile probationers, had to be kept separate from other county funds and used for operation of the juvenile system.
The court was meeting again this morning to review the juvenile budget situation, in which about $11,000 worth of bills from last year remains unpaid because the court balked at appropriating the additional money to balance the department's 1996 books. Among the bills that has gone unpaid is that of the department's Citgo gasoline credit card for the month.
At least part of the records pertaining to the checking account were turned over to County Judge Brian Williams late Wednesday afternoon at the courthouse in Marion.
The records, which included some bank statements, canceled checks, deposit slips and check stubs, were provided by Driver. The account is in the name of Crittenden County Juvenile Services.
Driver said it would take about three weeks for him to produce the rest of the account's records.
A brief review of the documents by the Evening Times with Williams included these items:
* Three checks, numbers 138, 141 and 142 made payable to AIPS and signed Jerry B. Driver. The checks were deposited in an account in Detroit, Mi., by the American Institute for Paralegal Studies. Check 138 was for $45, check 141 was for $230 and had the notation "for book Jerry Driver book fee," and check 142 was for $1,430 and had the notation "Tuition Jerry Driver 1st installment."
* Check number 132 for $35 made payable to Tailhook Association and signed Jerry B. Driver.
* Check number 144 for $874.85 made payable to Guns & Ammo, a firearms and police equipment store in Memphis, and signed Jerry B. Driver.
* Check number 149 for $800 made payable to Jerry Driver with the notation "computers" and signed Dorothy C. Barnes. The check had the endorsement Jerry B. Driver.
* Check number 150 for $800 made payable to cash with the notation "computers" and signed Dorothy C. Barnes. There was no endorsement on the check.
* Check number 152 for $2,000 made payable to Jerry Driver with the notation "computers" and signed Dorothy C. Barnes. The check was endorsed Jerry B. Driver.
Dorothy C. Barnes is a juvenile officer in the county juvenile department.
The bank statements provided to Williams were for January and February of 1995 and April through October of that year. The above checks were dated in December of 1994 and February, March, April and May of 1995.
Some deposit slips reviewed had the notation "State of Arkansas" with varying amounts shown as being deposited. Driver had told members of the quorum court last week that money deposited in the account had come from fees paid by juvenile offenders to offset the cost of the juvenile services.
Williams said that he planned to meet today with Circuit/Chancery Judge Ralph Wilson, who will be in Marion for a court matter, and discuss the account and the operation of the juvenile office.
Williams had said earlier Wednesday that he had told Driver that all future purchases made by the juvenile office would have to be made by purchase order and those purchase orders were to be reviewed by Williams before the purchase was made.
Scans:
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....97_01.jpg
home.comcast.net/~wm3file....97_02.jpg
