DeWitt County & Probation Credit Card Use…

DEWITT CO. (ECWd) -

Who Is Ultimately Responsible For The Payment If It Defaults?

Is this a public credit card? --- A question so simple to answer, yet nobody will state as fact AND provide proof!

Now the problem in DeWitt County, is that you do not know who to believe; the Treasurer who pays the bills, the Assistant State's Attorney who knows why the questions are being asked, or the Probation Officer who used the credit card?

The simple way to figure this out, is for several people to huddle around that fax machine and have the credit card company fax a copy of the ORIGINAL application for credit to that fax machine. That way nobody has a chance to "doctor" it before everyone else gets a chance to look at it.

This article is a response to those that thought we were "generally reckless" and "self important methods" in our reporting of the credit card incident. I will once more state that what we reported was stated as fact (by the DeWitt County Treasurer) at the time of the publication of the article. We have yet to receive anything resembling any proof that it is or was inacurate. Any credit card statement and/or receipts uploaded to that article came directly, thru email,  from the DeWitt County Assistant State's Attorney, Lars Dunn. On another note, if a document is presented to a public body for payment, it is public record available for the whole world to see. If you think we "illegally" published that document, go file a lawsuit against us and see how far you get with it. "Feel froggy? Jump!"

From The August 15, 2013 DeWitt County Board Meeting

You have to listen carefully to figure out all of the "redirections", answers that didn't answer the question asked, unsolicited comments from the treasurer, more answers that didn't apply to the question asked, etc. It was all in an attempt to confuse the board so that they would continue on without obtaining a truthful answer. It's rather sickening if you think about it.

There were two basic questions asked, and they were:

1.  Is this a public credit card or a private credit card?
2. Is it legal to purchase personal item using a public credit card?

Nobody asked (because it did not pertain to the questions actually asked) what account the money came from to pay the bill, but that seemed to be the popular answer to every question.

From this article, the following were asked at the beginning of the audio clip:

The person asking the questions is a DeWitt County Board Member; the person answering most of the questions is the DeWitt County Treasurer.

Chris: “The Capitol One is for probation automation that David Beery has…that’s why that credit card bill was that high.”

“That’s thru the probation automation, it’s..it’s..it’s not his account…it’s through the probation automation.”

“What he does is every once in awhile he comes in and gives us the cash and we write him a receipt, he staples it to that credit card, and we return that to his probation automation.”

===> Now, listen to the audio starting at the 8 minute mark. The Treasurer states as fact, at least THREE TIMES, that it is a public credit card.

(Start at the 8 Minute Mark in this audio) ...

"The billing address is David Beery, DeWitt County Probation Automation..."

Q: So this is actually a county credit card…
A: County Probation Automation

Q:  So the county is responsible for paying it, it’s not a personal…unintelligible…
A: Right…unintelligible speech…

Q:  It is our county credit card…
A:  It’s a probation automation card…

Q:  So it’s a government credit card
A:  …unintelligible…

OK, that’s what I was asking.

 Other Interesting Tidbits From This Credit Card

ECWd asks:

If this is a private credit card, why does the statement get shown for payment - to the credit card company? Shouldn't the receipts get produced for reimbursement back to the probation officer instead? Why would the officer "reimburse" the county if it was his personal card?  "If " its his personal card then he should pay the credit card company, not reimburse the county who clearly has been paying it.

Why is the County Treasurer making payments to, and managing, a private credit card? (if it is private)  Is that not use of public funds to cover private purchases?

Do any sales tax get applied to purchases? Are they tax-free purchases like they should be when a public body buys items? What about the tax on the "personal" purchases? THAT IS WHY YOU NEED A RECEIPT INSTEAD OF A STATEMENT !

Who does the "Rewards Balance" of 57, 113 belong to? How long has this card been around and has anyone used any of the "rewards balance" in its history? If they are accrued with county purchases, the balance belongs to the county.

We will follow this article up with a video-cast about the Sep 5, 2013 meeting.