A hearing is underway in Atlantic to determine if Cass County Attorney James Barry should be removed from office for alleged misconduct. The sheriff’s job will be the line next week. Monday the court heard from Stephanie Witzmer, a civil processor for the Cass County Sheriff’s office. Witzmer said less than two months before a newspaper report detailing allegations of mishandling of funds in the sheriff’s department, Barry and Sheriff Larry Jones asked her if she wouldn’t mind taking over the books relating to the sheriff’s drug fund so that the records would be more accurate. Witzmer said she received two sets of ledgers and two sacks of money that took a long-time to reconcile, but that Barry did not anything improper in the handling of the books, and had never asked her to lie about the records. And, Annette Campbell, from the State Auditor’s Office, said there was no evidence to suggest that Barry had any control over the sheriff’s cash fund, and that there were no records linking him to the purchase of a high-powered rifle using money from the sheriff’s fund.
