Macomb County's Karen Spranger Questioned About Backlog In Clerk's Office

MACOMB COUNTY (WWJ) - Backups in the court halls - a backlog of efilings and thousands in the LEIN system just the tip of the iceberg of mounting woes for the recently elected clerk in Macomb.

Karen Spranger before the Macomb County Board of Commissioners Thursday to answer questions about the growing number unfiled LEINS (Law Enforcement Information Network System) - used by police and others to track warrants and criminal records.

Kathy Tocco, with the county commission, asked Spranger why the office is in such distress. "There's the potential for 4,400 whose driving privileges have not been suspended because of your failure to act. How do you explain that? How do you explain that you have not reached out for help - from anybody?"

"I have," said Spranger in a soft voice. "I have asked outreach, I have asked - I remember coming to the board saying I needed more people. But I didn't elaborate."

Spranger says there was a backlog of LEIN entries when she took office.

Commission Chair Bob Smith says unfortunately he has no confidence that Spranger can fix the problem.

"There's not a lot that can be done until the court gets in and is able to do something about it because we don't see these numbers improving," said Smith. "She's been asked to fix these for months and months and months and nothing has been done."

Spranger, who has filed a lawsuit against the county over her constitutional rights as a clerk to hire, has bumped heads with the union and she says the outgoing clerk has been no help in making the transition.