A former deputy clerk in the Loudon County Clerk’s office claims
to have witnessed repeated violations of state law and county
policy, including a “cash for marriage” scheme, a ban on
interracial marriages and political campaigning by office
employees during work hours.
The claims are listed in a June 27 letter and accompanying
complaint to County Mayor Estelle Herron from an attorney for
Christy Russell, a former deputy clerk. Russell claims she was
fired shortly after the May primary election by Loudon County
Clerk Darlene Russell in retaliation for supporting another
candidate.
Knoxville attorney Jonathan Taylor said his firm represents the
county’s insurance company and is handling the case. He didn’t
respond to the claims.
Darlene Russell was elected clerk in 2010 after working in the
office for 30 years. She is not related to Christy Russell, who
is related to Emily Lorenz, who ran unsuccessfully for the
clerk’s office in May.
According to Christy Russell’s attorney, Katherine Young, a
lawsuit has been drafted and provided to the county commission
and the mayor for review.
“We wanted to alert them to the allegations so they can
determine if a resolution can be reached without litigation. To
my knowledge, my office has not yet heard from anyone
representing Loudon County or the Loudon County clerk,” she
said.
Christy Russell claims during her seven years of employment in
the clerk’s office she observed numerous apparent violations of
county policy and state law.
Christy Russell claims the violations included deputy clerks
accepting gifts, including cash, jewelry, wine and Victoria
Secret gift cards. She also said employees were instructed to
require individuals who wanted to be married to pay $20 in cash
in addition to the required government fee.
She said she was told not to ask for the cash “if the couple
looked poor.”
The cash collected by the clerks was put into a box and used as
a general slush fund for office events and parties, according to
the complaint.
The complaint also claims the clerk’s office had a longstanding
policy, dating back years, against granting marriage to
interracial couples and that after Christy Russell complained
she was told a change would be made.
Darlene Russell wouldn’t comment on the allegations.
The complaint also claims “certain favored members of the
public” were able to skirt vehicle registration rules, including
replacing lost tags without a police report, assigning names to
titles without the titleholder being present and using the
lowest price possible or executing even trades when estimating
vehicle sales prices for tax purposes. In some cases taxes were
paid on vehicles valued at half the Blue Book value, the
complaint claims.
Christy Russell said she was targeted for dismissal after
expressing support for Lorenz as clerk in the May 6 primary. She
said she brought her concerns to the county Human Resources
Department. She was terminated May 15 for misconduct related to
a vehicle transaction she said she had nothing to do with.
Christy Russell also claims that employees in the office were
expected to help campaign for Darlene Russell on county time.
The practice was noted on the employees’ time sheets, she said.
During the 2010 campaign, Darlene Russell admitted to passing
out campaign literature from the clerk’s office. She stopped
after then-County Mayor Doyle Arp said campaigning from the
office violated county policy.