Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert will remain in her position amid an ongoing legal effort to remove her from office after Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Felicia Corbin-Johnson determined it would be “unfair” to remove the clerk at this early stage.
Corbin-Johnson was asked to hold Halbert in default after she filed a motion to dismiss after a legal petition was filed for her removal, Fox 13 Memphis reported on Friday, adding that private attorney Robert Meyers argued for Shelby County that Tennessee law requires Halbert to respond to the substance of the petition within 20 days.
The judge ultimately suggested it would have been “fundamentally unfair” to grant Shelby Count a default victory, removing Halbert from office, as the clerk’s attorney cited her earlier motion to dismiss the petition, which he argued was a sufficient response to move the legal proceedings forward.
Corbin-Johnson did not rule in favor of Halbert, however, but instead gave the embattled clerk another three days to craft a response to Shelby County’s petition.
Halbert did not appear in court, according to ABC 24 Memphis, which reported Corbin-Johnson is expected to hold another hearing on Tuesday.
This is the second attempt by Shelby County officials to remove Halbert, after an earlier petition failed over the summer after the court determined Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp did not have authority to file the petition, following a years-long history of claims about Halbert’s alleged inability to properly manage her office.
Allegations levied against Halbert include claims the clerk has failed to process vehicle tag renewals, including for car lots, in a timely fashion, lost access to one of its branch locations due to financial mismanagement, failed to properly account for millions of dollars in her county expenses, and once vacationed in Jamaica after closing her office under the guise of addressing a backlog.
Halbert has claimed her office is underfunded, and argued it does not have access to the accounting software it needs, but the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office in March addressed outstanding issues and reported that Shelby County has access to the same software as every other Tennessee county.
The report found Halbert “is not utilizing the software to its full capabilities,” and her office “lacks an understanding of its software system.”
Halbert previously declined to apologize for issues at her office and said she would “absolutely not” resign after the first ouster petition was filed, instead suggesting she would welcome an opportunity for a fresh start following the comptroller’s report.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Wanda Halbert” and “Shelby County Clerk’s Office” by Wanda Halbert.Â
