Power Struggle In Macomb County Ends Outside The Courtroom

MACOMB COUNTY (WWJ) - Macomb County officials were able to skip a court hearing Wednesday after a reaching a settlement with the Macomb County Clerk over moving her office.

County officials filed a lawsuit against County Clerk Karen Spranger after she refused to move her office, which Deputy County Executive Mark Deldin says is the culmination of a two and a half year renovation project.

Deldin says the County and Spranger came to an agreement in Judge Kathryn Viviano's office.

"Her only issue, her only requirement is 'can I put together my own seating chart.' It came down to this - it took dozens of hours of attorneys to be paid and having a circuit court judge - who has a very full docket - have to set aside time to hear this complaint," said Deldin.

Spranger can focus on some other legal entanglements that she's been involved in since taking office last year.

She was fined $100 for an ethics violation in April -- shortly after that she apparently rear-ended a car in Roseville and was ticketed for failure to stop and not having proof of insurance. At the time she was driving a county-owned car.

By Monday, the Clerk's office, and it's birth and death records will be at the old Talmer building.