IN RE DUNN
| Docket Number: | 2010-CS-00323-SCT Linked Case(s): 2010-CS-00323-SCT ; 2010-CS-00323-SCT ; 2010-CS-00323-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-07-2011 Opinion Author: Justice Kitchens Holding: Ordered to show cause. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Show cause - Monetary sanction - M.R.C.P. 77(d) |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Show cause - Monetary sanction - M.R.C.P. 77(d) |
| Summary of the Facts: | In 2008, Barbara Dunn, the Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, was sanctioned for her office’s failure to comply with the requirements of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, including M.R.C.P. 77(d). In February 2010, the Court discovered that Mrs. Dunn’s office again had failed to follow the requirements of Rule 77(d) and ordered Dunn to appear at a show-cause hearing. The Court sanctioned Dunn by requiring her to pay an amount thought to be sufficient to deter further improprieties. The Court afforded her the opportunity to file a detailed statement in which she would report on remedial changes in her two offices that would be expected to prevent recurrence of the same or similar errors. If the clerk demonstrated that she was diligently working to solve the serious problems in her offices, the Court would return to her some portion of her money. Circuit Clerk Dunn has filed a statement in which she lists procedures she proffers as adequate to correct the deficiencies. Her statement and proposed procedural “solutions” clearly show that she continues to misunderstand the nature and severity of the serious mistakes that repeatedly have occurred in her offices. The potential for additional errors remains. Contrary to the clerk’s analysis of her failures, it is clear that the recurring clerical disasters in the Hinds County Circuit Clerk’s office are the product of human blunders rather than, as Circuit Clerk Dunn seems to see it, an inadequate computer system. Additionally, Mrs. Dunn specifically was ordered to pay the sanction from her personal funds. In apparent violation of that order, Dunn paid the $5,000 sanction with a check, signed by her, from the “Hinds County Barbara Dunn Circuit Clerk Fee Account.” Within ten days of the date of the entry of this decision, Dunn shall provide documentary proof to the Court that she has repaid that account with her personal funds. Alternatively, if the referenced checking account is a repository for Dunn’s private funds only, she shall provide sworn documentation to that effect, also within ten days. Further, she shall, within said ten days, show cause in writing, if any she can, why she should not be held in contempt for having paid the monetary sanction levied upon her from a checking account containing public funds, if that be the case. In addition, within the ten days, Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn shall file a detailed, written narrative, under oath, meticulously describing what, if any, procedures and practices she has implemented in each of her offices to assure her full and consistent compliance with M.R.C.P. 77(d). |
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