Public administrators issue resolved, commissioner says

JACKSON, Mo. -- Former Cape Girardeau County public administrator John Ferguson has turned nearly 100 cases over to the new administrator over the past 11 months, putting to rest accusations of wrongdoing and a threat by the county commission to sue him.

"We are turning them over on time," Ferguson said.

Gerald Jones, presiding commissioner, said the commission now won't sue him.

Jones and other county officials say they hope the issue has been resolved.

Ferguson served for more than a decade as public administrator. He handled the financial and personal affairs of disabled, incapacitated and deceased adults and cases involving minors and received fees from the estates as ordered by the circuit court.

Voters elected Phyllis Schwab as administrator last year and she took office in January.

But Ferguson, as provided in state law, continued to serve as executor in each case until the anniversary date of when the case was assigned to him by Associate Circuit Judge Peter Statler.

Voiced concern in May

But the county commission in May voiced concern about Ferguson's actions, suggesting he was slow to turn over the cases and trying to retain the most profitable cases. They threatened to sue him over possible state ethics law violations if he didn't turn over cases by year's end.

The warning came three months after Statler, at Schwab's request, ordered Ferguson to turn over the cases throughout the year as each anniversary date arrived.

The commission's warning came in a May 14 letter to Ferguson from Morley Swingle, prosecuting attorney. "It is morally and legally repugnant for you to be sifting through the public administrator caseload trying to keep the profitable cases for your own gain," he wrote.

Ferguson vehemently denied the accusations, insisting that county officials simply wanted to get the fees to offset the cost of Schwab's salary. When Ferguson was public administrator, he received the fees but no salary. The change to salary occurred when Schwab took office.

With the end of the year approaching, Schwab said Ferguson and Ferguson's attorney, John Layton, have been turning over cases to the court.

"I think there is a genuine effort on their part to be done," she said.

Schwab said Swingle's letter helped get cases turned over to her. Ferguson said the prosecutor's demand had nothing to do with it.

Ferguson said he was doing his job properly and turning over the cases all at once would have been a hardship for his clients and court clerks.

Language 'a little mean'

Swingle now says the letter may have been too harsh. "In hindsight, maybe my language was a little mean."

But Swingle said he wrote the letter at the request of the county commissioners, who approved of the wording.

The letter, he said, was "meant to be threatening."

Ferguson began the year with 101 cases and retained custody in several of the cases. He said he still has five cases to turn over by year's end. Ferguson and Schwab are fighting over custody of two more cases that could be settled in court next month.

Schwab said about half a dozen cases in all have been contested this year. Schwab said Statler has retained Ferguson in some of those cases and turned the others over to her.

Ferguson said he agreed to serve as a private guardian and conservator for those clients who wanted him to continue handling their cases. But he said he isn't looking to make it a business.

Schwab, who took office last January, said Ferguson has turned over most of the 101 conservator and guardian cases he had when the year began.

"I think things are going well," Ferguson said. "We are turning them over on time."

Schwab said she currently has over 100 cases, including new ones that she was appointed to handle.

County paying expenses

The county for the first time has been paying all the expenses associated with the public administrator's office, except for money paid to Schwab's attorney. That expense comes out of the fees paid by the clients or their estates.

In the past, the county typically paid $10,000 to Ferguson to subsidize his income from fees.

The county has had its share of expenses this year even though Schwab runs the office from her home.

Through November, the county had spent over $51,000 in Schwab's first year in office and has budgeted over $83,000 for public administrator expenses for 2002. The new budget includes salaries and benefits for Schwab and a part-time assistant, who was hired in November. It also includes $3,500 in travel expenses associated with visiting clients, many of whom are in nursing or group homes.

H. Weldon Macke, county auditor, said the county received little in the way of fees this year because of the change in public administrator. But he said the county expects to receive fees from those cases next year to help offset the public administrator expenses.

Many of the clients, however, have little money to draw on. Schwab and Macke said the fees won't cover all the expenses.

"This just never was designed to be a money maker," Schwab said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123