A investigation by the State Auditor shows the former Taylor County Sanitarian misappropriated nearly 20-thousand dollars. Jennifer Russell was fired from her position after the County Board of Health noticed the irregularities. Deputy State Auditor Warren Jenkins says Russell deposited money into her personal account that wasn’t hers.He says it was money that should’ve gone into the county’s checking account, a large portion of it money from the state that should’ve gone to the county. Jenkins says Russell took money from payments made to the county for things such as well permits and inspections. He says it in many cases ended up in her personal account, or the checks were cashed and cash was withheld. Jenkins says the investigation also found discrepancies in reimbursement requests for mileage and costs for training workshops. He says they either never took place, or the sanitarian was not there when the did take place. He says they were able to substantiate that Russell was a number of times actually in casinos when she said she was traveling on county business. The State Auditor’s report on Russell has been turned over to the Attorney General’s office.
