BROWNSVILLE — The Edmonson County Fiscal Court voted Monday to order County Clerk Larry “Butch” Carroll to repay more than $21,000 after a state audit showed he went over his 2009 budget for salaries.
If Carroll does not repay the money, the county can file a civil lawsuit in an attempt to reclaim the lost funds.
Edmonson County Attorney Greg Vincent said the state auditor’s office uncovered the discrepancy about four months ago, revealing that Carroll’s office overspent its maximum allotted amount for salaries for the 2009 fiscal year by $21,163.
Since Carroll’s office overspent on a line item in its budget rather than owing excess fees, Vincent said the county would not have been obligated to collect the money.
“(The state is) saying he went over budget in regards to salary, and they will testify to that in front of any court,” Vincent said. “We have to decide what to do about that.”
Aside from trying to collect the money, Edmonson County Judge-Executive N.E. Reed said another option would have been to forgive the discrepancy. That second option was presented to fiscal court, but none of the magistrates supported it.
“If he owes it, he ought to pay it,” Magistrate Neil Vincent said.
Deputy Clerk Kathy Harris said the discrepancy arose from a project the county clerk’s office did in which it created an online database where the public can search for records, such as marriage licenses, deeds and wills.
A copy of the county budget for 2009 shows the clerk’s office overspent by $21,163 for a line item called “indexing,” which covered expenses relating to the online records database.
Harris said that after the deputy clerks began working on the project, they learned that the employees in that office could not do contract labor beyond the scope of the clerk’s office, which is what the project entailed.
“Once we found out we couldn’t do that ourselves, we did seek additional help,” Harris said. “We did this on our own time, hired extra people, got students to help us out. … We didn’t all just get a big bonus or something.”
Vincent said the county would be unable to transfer funds to make up the difference.
In other business Monday, the fiscal court set March 29 as the date for a special election in the Rocky Hill precinct.
On that date, voters there will consider whether to allow sales of wine at Park Mammoth Resort.
Located on Louisville Road near Interstate 65, the resort includes a lodge, an 18-hole golf course and Rockcastle Shooting Center, which has hosted national shooting competitions.
Nick Noble, one of the resort’s operators, said he is interested in having a winery at the resort as an economic development tool and another option for tourists who visit the area and Park Mammoth.
“In this day and age of tough economic times, we’re trying to do everything we can to not only improve our investment but also help this county,” Noble said.
Since Edmonson County is dry, a local option election in the precinct where the resort is located is required.
A petition carrying 108 signatures to allow sales of wine has been filed with the county clerk’s office, which verified that 103 signatures came from registered voters in the Rocky Hill precinct, more than the minimum of 95 required to stage the special election.

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