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Warren County treasurer asks why criminal investigation remains open after sheriff said case was solved
Summary
Warren County Treasurer Christine Norton asked the board to clarify why a criminal investigation remains open when, she said, Sheriff Hovar told the board in April that the case was "solved," that all but $48,000 of the county's fraudulent money was recovered, and that the treasurer's office had been cleared.
Christine Norton, the Warren County treasurer, told the county board during public comment that she was confused about why a criminal investigation is still listed as open despite what she described as an earlier public statement that the case had been resolved.
"I have the transcript of the April where sheriff Hovar said that he had solved the crime and that all but $48,000 of the county's outstanding, fraudulent money was found, identified, and it was just a matter of bringing it back into the coffers," Norton said. She added that, to her understanding, "everyone in the treasurer's department and all of Warren County ... was cleared of any criminality," and asked that the discrepancy be put on the record.
Norton said she raised the point to seek clarification: "My only request was I was a little confused on the criminal investigation still being opened ... So I just wanted to ... put that on the record because I was just a little confused as to why." The transcript records her remarks during the board's public comment period.
The board's public record in this meeting does not include a response from Sheriff Hovar or other officials clarifying the investigation's current status. The meeting record shows the board moved out of executive session with "no action taken," and later moved to adjourn; the transcript provides the motions but does not show a subsequent, recorded clarification about the inquiry's status.
Norton referenced an April statement by Sheriff Hovar and a specific amount, $48,000, that she said remained outstanding after recoveries. The transcript does not include additional details about the scope of the alleged fraud, any ongoing investigative steps, or whether the county prosecutor or an outside agency is still reviewing the matter.
The meeting record does not show the sheriff answering Norton during this session. The board did not record any formal vote on a new investigative action in the segments provided; procedural motions in the meeting covered exiting executive session and adjourning the meeting.
The treasurer's request for clarification was entered into the public record; no further action or timeline for a response was recorded in the transcript.
