Friday, August 2, 2013

Officials work out Leuthold's pay

Craig Leuthold
When is Knox County's top tax collector not actually the trustee?

Well, that's a question some local officials kicked around earlier this week as they tried to determine whether Craig Leuthold should get paid for his first two days in office.

State law says the trustee assumes the position upon taking the oath of office and upon getting an insurance bond. The Knox County Commission on Monday, July 22 picked Leuthold to serve out the remaining 14 months of the term for John Duncan III, who resigned and pleaded guilty to official misconduct a few weeks earlier.

But, here's where it gets a little confusing.

A judge swore in Leuthold right after the commission picked him. However, officials didn't sign his insurance bond until three days later on Thursday, July 25.

But, on Tuesday, July 23, Leuthold stepped down from his job as public information officer in the Knox County Property Assessor's Office, asked payroll to cut him a check for his unused vacation time, and began working in the county Trustee's Office.

About that time, the county's risk management and payroll departments started processing Leuthold's paperwork. Officials there then questioned whether he should get paid for working July 23-24. Was he technically the trustee? They noted that he didn't actually sign the paperwork for his $18.5 million insurance bond until July 25.

Find out what happened by clicking right smack here for the rest of this bad a$$ story.

1 comment:

fischbobber said...

If he's smart and wants to appear ethical, he refuses any pay until July 26. But the way things have been going, I look for him to go after any unused vacation by JDIII and trying to back date timecards.

This has all been pretty humorous, if you think about it. It's easy work for a city beat reporter though, so enjoy it while you can.