Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert held a press conference on Tuesday after her attorney filed a motion to dismiss the legal petition calling for her to be removed from office.
In her remarks, Halbert reasserted her stance that the Shelby County Clerk’s office should receive the majority of the money it collects for the betterment of the office and declared she would not apologize.
“I’m not going to apologize for not operating outside of the law,” said Halbert (pictured above).
She claimed, “I’m not interested in that, I want to go by the book, the letter of the law.”
Halbert continued, “If the book tells me that I have $12-$15 million in my budget, but somehow I’m only granted $6.4-6.5 million, and that only covers low salaries and $500,000 worth of operations and maintenance, that’s a struggle for us, because we’ve haven’t changed with the change of the times.”
Her attorney, Darrel O’Neal, explained their motion to dismiss is based on the legal requirements that a clerk’s wrongdoing be “willful” and “clear and convincing.”
O’Neal explained, “Mere negligence, or because you don’t like how I run the office, are normally not grounds for ouster, so that’s the basis of our motion to dismiss.”
Halbert was later asked if she would appear before the Shelby County Commission. In response, she claimed she would appear to provide commissioners with “historical records” that prove she repeatedly sought “assistance” from outside her office.
Halbert also claimed she would submit a corrective action plan to the commissioners.
“Hopefully this will be a fresh start, because regardless as to what brought us all together, I’m looking for the outcome to be different,” Halbert stated.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp filed the 49-page complaint calling for Halbert’s removal from office. It alleges the clerk has demonstrated a “willful neglect to perform” her job duties and highlights her decision to vacation in Jamaica while closing the clerk’s office’s physical locations to tackle the backlog.
Halbert confirmed she would “absolutely not” resign from office last week.
Watch Halbert’s full press conference:
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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” by ABC24 Memphis.
