Former Wichita County Auditor Cheryll Jones on Monday afternoon responded to a Times Record News article about her being escorted from her office by security personnel from the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed she was removed from the county’s annex building on Friday prior to her term in office expiring on Monday.
The Sheriff’s Office said security personnel escorted Jones out after county personnel were locked out of the county’s financial software. The Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident.
More: Jones escorted from Wichita County Auditor's Office after financial software lockout
On Monday afternoon, she confirmed via her personal email that she posted comments on the Times Record News Facebook page regarding issues involving the county's financial software.
In these comments posted early Monday afternoon, she contends TRN had not reached out to her.
However, TRN attempted to reach her for comment several times, beginning Monday morning and received word Monday afternoon from Jones that she had posted a response.
In the Facebook post , Jones wrote: “These are all rumors and no facts were presented regarding unprofessional conduct nor any statutes that were broken.
My term started on August 26, so Friday was not the last day of my term.
Users were disabled in the system in order to close the fiscal year and run year end reports needed to complete the audit. It is the auditor’s duty to provide reports to the Court, not give direct access to the financial software per statute. However, the new County auditor can choose to do this and can enable users as he sees fit very easily. Statutorily, there is no requirement for users to have access to the financial system and is a privilege. All that is required is that reports are given to Commissioners’ Court. Again, it is the responsibility of the new auditor to give that authority to have access to the financial software.
Prior to the financial software upgrade that I implemented in July 2021, offices did not have access to the financial system.
No calls or inquiries were made regarding the software system prior to deputies showing up in my office on Friday afternoon. I would have been happy to explain that the system was down to close the books.
Prior statements regarding election workers and tax payments have been previously made and selectively published.
An AG Opinion request was filed Friday to see if the actions taken by the County were legal. It is ironic this came on the heels of other AG requests to distract and discredit.
More: UPDATED: Departing auditor asks Texas AG to weigh in on Wichita County practices
Unfortunately, for the citizens I was not selected to try for another term. It is disheartening for what I feel is coming their way. I had nothing but the best intentions for the citizens and wish them the best of luck.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Ex-auditor Jones responds to removal from Wichita County Auditor's Office
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