State audit: Former Crenshaw Co. official should repay $209K

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A recent state report shows the former circuit and district court clerk in Crenshaw County needs to repay more than $209,000 in missing or misspent funds. 

The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts recently demanded repayment. It held a hearing for former clerk Jeannie Gibson to explain why she shouldn’t have to repay the public funds. Gibson did not appear at the hearing. 

The audit of the circuit and district courts in Crenshaw County looked at receipts and expenditures from April 1, 2020 through 2024 and was released Friday.

Gibson resigned in January from the elected post she’s held since 2007.

Separately, after the examiners office began its audit, the Alabama County Clerks Association, of which Gibson was previously the treasurer, filed a February lawsuit against her. She allegedly misappropriated about $338,000 from the association, its attorney told Alabama Daily News.

In court documents, the association says Gibson used her “access to and authority on the clerks association bank accounts to write checks for personal expenses and to withdraw large sums of cash.”

“Defendant Gibson made repeated, material misrepresentations to the Clerks Association regarding her improper use of the funds of the Clerks Association  between  September  2019  and  January  2025  by  providing  false,  inaccurate,  and  incomplete  financial  reports  to  the  Clerks  Association  in  an  effort  to  conceal  defendant’s improper use of the funds of the Clerks Association for her personal gain,” according to the complaint.

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The Luverne Journal reported last month that Gibson admitted to taking money belonging to the association. Gibson, who also goes by Olga Gibson, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She is representing herself in the civil case, according to court records.

Last week, a Shelby County circuit judge set an April 3 hearing for a summary judgment, according to court records. 

As far as the state investigation, the examiners department, which regularly audits state and local government agencies’ finances, can forward cases of alleged wrongdoing to the Attorney General and Alabama Ethics Commission. Neither agency comments on possible investigations. 

“The Department is steadfast in working to protect public funds at all levels of government in the State of Alabama,” Rachel Riddle, chief examiner of public accounts, told Alabama Daily News on Tuesday. “That is our mission and one that we take very seriously.  It is important that the public knows that we are behind the scenes doing this work for them every day.”

Among the audit’s findings were: 

• Receipts totaling $88,621 were not deposited into civil and criminal court bank accounts;
• Disbursements totaling $16,759 from the Circuit Clerk’s Fund and the civil and criminal court bank accounts that were unallowable or undocumented;
• A total of $97,211 paid to an individual when no documentation was provided that work was performed by the individual. The audit does not name that individual.