A 20-page complaint was submitted on Thursday against Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert, detailing an alleged pattern of paranoia and workplace incompetence that has resulted in a severe backlog in vehicle registrations and a working environment reportedly described as “hell” by an employee.
Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright promised the formal complaint against Halbert was forthcoming in a social media post on Wednesday, which responded to a letter from Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp (R), which explained the need for a formal letter of complaint about Halbert. Wamp’s office began investigating Halbert after District Attorney Steve Mulroy recused himself.
After noting his concern that his prior correspondence with Wamp’s office did not constitute a formal response, Wright included details for 20 separate complaints regarding Halbert’s administration.
“The case cannot and does not rely on evidence that Mrs. Halbert is bad at her job.” Wright wrote, “Instead, it reveals a clear pattern of intentional negligence. A series of issues drive and explain the Clerk’s willful neglect.”
According to Wright, when asked for an explanation on a given issue, Halbert “provides a laundry list of grievances against the Mayor’s Administration, the County Commission, the Trustee’s Office, and other parties charged with assisting her department in delivering services to the public.”
He added that, when asked about her office’s shortcomings, Halbert regularly “complaints that her operating budget is less than the revenue her office generates, that the county’s policies and oeprations are improper, that the clerk’s facilities provide inadequate space for employees and citizens, that her office has not been afforded a ‘comprehensive fiscal and operational audit,’ that its technology is old, and that other departments and elected officials interfere with her duties.”
Some of Halbert’s many shortcomings include a failure “to immediately correct material weaknesses in internal controls,” which he wrote “almost caused the county to have a qualified audit statement in 2022, which could have affected the county’s bond rating, inflated its costs of borrowing, and harmed its financial outlook.”
Among the other 19 complaints included by Wright are allegations that she “neglected to make accommodations to maintain a satellite office” in multiple locations, which Wright alleged left residents underserved for periods ranging between two and three years.
He also included allegations that Halbert “willfully neglected” to renew leases at multiple other satellite locations, instead paying a month-to-month rate, “subjecting Shelby County Government to unnecessary holdover fees and leaving the office[s] at continued risk of being abruptly closed.”
Halbert also allegedly failed in 2022 to prepare for the state’s new license plate design, allowing “her office to fall into chaos.” Wright explained, “Long lines, delays, and backlogs were the result, among other problems encountered by citizens, businesses, and other officials.”
She is also accused of allowing a severe staff shortage, an extreme delay in mail which included vehicle registrations, overcharging residents and businesses, and failing to keep regular business hours for the county clerk’s office.
Part of Wright’s complaint included references to whistleblowers who claim Halbert is paranoid, and “does not trust anyone,” including “her own staff” and “other public officials” throughout Memphis and Shelby County.
Wright wrote, “One employee flatly told me the working culture under Clerk Halbert is ‘hell,” and noted that employee “wrote a letter of resignation in advance, certain that one should be ready to produce at any moment.”
Should Wamp’s investigation find credible wrongdoing, Halbert could be removed from her position.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Wanda Halbert” by Wanda Halbert and “Shelby county Courthouse Complex” by Shelby County.
memphis corrupt?
shocked face
Well you know elections mean things, when people have Shelby County continue to elect people like this, then you have issues.
Try electing a Republican once or twice. See if you have the same issues.
Sounds like she needs to be removed for incompetence.