After months of delay, Judge Facemire heard the arguments for the Prosecutor Jim Samples vs. the Clay County Commission court case on Tuesday. Allowing Circuit Clerk Mike Asbury to join in the suit, Judge Facemire is faced with deciding if the County Commission cut the budgets of the two constitutional offices to the point that the offices are unable to function.
Testimony started with Prosecutor Jim Samples and covered the details of the budgets for the fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. Samples’ three hour long testimony covered current office expenses, the proposed budget and the means used to arrive at the determined amounts.
Circuit Clerk Mike Asbury took the witness stand after lunch, with his responses mirroring much of what Samples had said. County Commissioner Jerry Linkinoggor was the only defendant to take the stand, detailing the process by which the commission had decided the budget for each constitutional office within the courthouse. Tasked with the duties of deciding if the Clay County Commission was or wasn’t in error when assigning the budgets for the courthouse offices, Judge Facemire took the case under advisement, allowing two weeks for the court’s findings to be filed. Judge Facemire will then render his decision.
