Cobb County Superior Court , Clerk , Connie Taylor , will recover almost$ 84, 000 in expedited card charges that she pocketed over her earliest two years in office.
State law allows superior court clerks to keep the$ 35 processing fee paid by area residents applying for , U. S.  , passports, but , Cobb , officials said Taylor also hung onto the$ 24.70 expedited shipping charges that should have gone into the county’s coffers.
Because those transport expenses were borne by citizens,  , Cobb , commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to take a test from Taylor’s business reimbursing the region for those email operations.
An , Atlanta Journal-Constitution , investigation found Taylor collected more than$ 425, 000 in passport fees in 2021 and 2022 alone. That was in addition to the$ 170, 000 salary she receives for managing her office, which serves as the custodian of property records and all civil and criminal filings for , Cobb Superior Court , cases.
” It’s legal, but is it ethical” ? , Cobb County , Commissioner , JoAnn Birrell , asked ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. ” It goes into her personal account, and by law that’s allowed. But we have no history”.
Under the questionable law, which allows excellent court clerks to supplement their income with card handling fees, which are collected on behalf of the , U.S. State Department, thousands of other elected officials across the state have done the same for years.
Taylor, however, profited to an unusual amount thanks to a boom in software handled by her business in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, an AJC review found. The research also showed she kept more card costs than another metro , Atlanta , staff, many of whom share some or all of that extra income with the local authorities.
Taylor did not respond to comments requested for comment or show up at the committee meeting on Tuesday night.  , Libby Blackwell, her chief operating officer, spoke to directors and answered their questions otherwise.
According to Blackwell, Taylor requested a refund of the funds two years ago, and the county has now received more than$ 43,750 in extended card processing taxes collected by their business in 2023 and 2024.
Cobb , Commission Chair , Lisa Cupid , acknowledged Taylor wanted to return the money sooner, but said there were concerns about how much was owed and what could remain collected. County officials don’t disclose how much money Taylor has made since taking office because they have no control over the variety of card fees.
” It is really up to the secretary to be honest, open, opened, and charge the state for charges she has collected”, Commissioner , Keli Gambrill , told Taylor’s COO. The secretary” should have been doing this all along and had not.”
Blackwell said a test from Taylor’s company was ready to be delivered to the town’s finance group as soon as Wednesday. Additionally, she stated that a separate bill is being opened for money gotten from travelers who want their passports expedited.
” They now go into two distinct money”, Blackwell said.
In overdue 2022, the GBI began an exploration into Taylor’s office after a whistleblower claimed the secretary had ordered her to remove information relating to card fees that were kept as personal income. Those results were turned over to Attorney General , Chris Carr ‘s , company, which said Tuesday the situation remains “open and engaged”.
In the legislative session of last year, a bill that limited how much additional cash clerks had pouch from passport applications was severely reduced. However, starting this year, the legal officers are required to supply their counties with weekly reports outlining how much money they collect, according to Birrell.
She said Taylor’s second report won’t be expected until the end of March.
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