by Robert M. Brantley

According to Greene County Sheriff's Department Detective Mark Hall, two criminal investigations have been initiated on Michael Carr for Fraud.

As reported by the Springfield Business Journal over four years ago, "Greene County Circuit Clerk Mike Carr has been withholding funds from the county treasury for the last 25 years."

The article goes on to say that Michael Carr "has been placing money generated from copying court records and other documents into an office supply account used to pay for the copier and other operational supplies, according to a March 22, 2000, state audit report. The sum in question could be as much as $200,000, according to conclusions by the state auditor."

No one really knows exactly how much money has been collected for copy fees as the same audit report notes that, "Copy monies are not properly handled and recorded".

The audit goes on to say that, "All employees of the Circuit Clerk's office collect copy monies. Receipt slips are not issued for these copies and a receipt log is not kept of the monies."

Although the sum reported by the Springfield Business Journal claims that the copy funds could be as much as $200,000, there is really no way to tell exactly how much cash has been collected since the office is collecting fees and failing to produce receipts or record the transactions.

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