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Jul. 22, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

County probing possible missing marriage fees

New procedures for handling cash studied

By ALAN CHOATE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Couples obtain marriage licenses Monday at the Clark County Marriage License Bureau in Las Vegas. An employee has been placed on paid leave while officials look into whether money was mishandled or stolen.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

A Clark County employee has been placed on leave while officials investigate whether money has been mishandled or stolen at the Marriage License Bureau in downtown Las Vegas.

The county clerk's office is also looking at new procedures for handling cash at the marriage bureau, because under the current system it's going to be difficult to document how much money may be missing.

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    • The employee was placed on paid administrative leave following a meeting last Thursday, said Clark County Clerk Shirley Parraguirre.

    "If there's others, we of course want to pursue that," she said. "We're looking at what other evidence we can find and if there's other couples who will come forward."

    The inquiry is focused on a small fee collected from many of the 100,000-plus couples served each year at the marriage office, which only accepts cash.

    A marriage license costs $55. The marriage bureau also issues certified copies of a marriage license application for an additional $7.

    The certified copy contains more personal information, such as place of birth and the names of the individual's parents, and is used to file name changes and the like with government entities.

    One local minister noticed several instances in which couples had the certified copy and said they'd paid $62 -- but their receipt only showed the $55 for the marriage license.

    The minister showed the information to the Clark County District Attorney's office and the Review-Journal.

    District Attorney David Roger said the information should've been taken to police because his office doesn't have the resources to investigate it. Parraguirre started looking into the matter after being contacted by a reporter.

    The investigation is focused on what happened to the $7 fees collected by the clerk placed on leave, who has worked for the office since June 2007.

    "It certainly makes me question it," Parraguirre acknowledged. "That's why we're pursuing it immediately."

    Her office is also looking at ways to better track the certified copies, which are created by individual clerks using a device that leaves a raised stamp with the date and the county clerk's signature.

    Options include adding software that would generate certified copies electronically or printing them on coded paper that's numbered for tracking.

    "If we did that, we would have an audit trail," Parraguirre said. "Now, we have no way of knowing. If they issued 50 licenses, we have no way of knowing how many certified copies they had."

    The office might also post signs urging customers to check their receipts for accuracy before leaving.

    A $7 fee may not be much on its own, but clerks can issue between 30 and 50 licenses per shift, Parraguirre said.

    "If somebody was only selling 50 percent, over a month's time that could add up to a little bit of money," she said. Using her numbers, that comes to as much as $875 a week, or $3,500 a month.

    The person in question is classified as a legal office assistant and makes about $30,000 a year. The salary range for that position is $28,953 to $44,844 annually.

    "Everybody who takes cash is subject to something like this happening," Parraguirre said. "If this is true, they've walked away with quite a bit of money."

    Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.

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    Jerry Antinoro wrote on July 23, 2008 06:36 PM: Sounds to me as if this is a witch hunt. I know the employee in question and know there is no more honest person in the world. If there is no audit trail, no way of proving what happened, and based on Parraguirre's own comment of "if this happened...", its sounds as if they have nothing. How much hell is this poor soul being subjected to based on a maybe. Let's investigate Parraguirre's management of the office, there is the real crime.


    rjC wrote on July 22, 2008 05:05 PM: FYI- The DA's office does have it's own investigators. I guess they are too busy with all the loose ends from cop cases to walk over from Starbucks and ask questions. May not be not their jurisdiction. Guess they will have to wait to get LVMPD's botched report and clean that up as well.


    tim wrote on July 22, 2008 03:29 PM: sounds like another gov.employee helping themselves to taxpayer money.lazy and thieves,sure she'll be back on the job after a little wrist slap.blame it on the pressure of having to do nothing all day except filling out forms.overworked.


    wildbill wrote on July 22, 2008 10:30 AM: Good for you bride....now lighten up some or it won't last....


    bride wrote on July 22, 2008 09:18 AM: To Wildbill:

    In response to your "future wife reference." My fiance & I just purchased our license the other day and guess what? I paid for it.


    Paul wrote on July 22, 2008 08:18 AM: Its true the county should be doing more to insert themselves into departments to place better checks and controls. However, the sad fact is that half the county departments are run by elected officials. County mgmt won't touch them if they're politically powerful-yet still have to clean up the messes created by them. District Court is the worst with over 40 judges each having a God complex and one scandal after another such as the Bailiff who tasered a a volunteer on Bring Your Kids to Work Do. They need to be turned back over to the State where someone can officially have oversight over them. The judges will never do this, however. They themselves are State employees and can tell the County to go stuff it but they want their operation to be county so the county's coffers can pay their operating budget. District Court is a disaster waiting to happen.


    Not My Job wrote on July 22, 2008 07:54 AM: The real crime occurred in the DA's office. No time, no resources to investigate? Can't afford a dime to call a cop? Oh wait, that office is filled with cops everyday. Is it any wonder that real clean-ups in Nevada government happen only when the Feds step in? Shame on DA "It's Not My Job" Rogers.


    Donna wrote on July 22, 2008 07:30 AM: Good god, are we driving by sound? This County doesn't have a clue. We keep "fixing" things as they come up. Doesn't anyone know how to run this community and its infrastructure?


    Mimi wrote on July 22, 2008 07:15 AM: Wherever there is cash handling in the county and city, there is theft. Audits have revealed this in every investigation. Where were the auditors this time? A surprise cash count would have caught this employee red-handed.

    Even better, why don't they eliminate cash handling at government entities. It's pathetic that it always seems to be an outsider catching these crooks. Why are the administrators always the last to know???


    wildbill wrote on July 22, 2008 06:56 AM: Why not just accept credit or debit cards? ANYONE getting married will have either one (for future wife usage).


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