In Wake, a sad day as the former register of deeds faces charges
It must first be said that Laura Riddick, the former Wake County register of deeds who is now charged with embezzling more than $900,000 from the office, is entitled to the presumption of innocence that is a cornerstone of the American legal system. She will have the chance to defend herself, as will the three other former employees accused of embezzling smaller sums.
The indictments are a shock to many who know or know of Riddick, who held the elective office for 20 years before resigning for health reasons. A Republican, Riddick was elected again and again to an office that oversees marriage licenses among other documents. It deals with lawyers and citizens, thousands of them, every year.
The office of the Register of Deeds records legal papers, issues marriage licenses and certifies legal documents. It also administers oaths for those who become a notary public.
It also collects fees in cash – something that helped give birth to this scandal. The county has revised money handling in the wake of these allegations, and that was overdue.
Cash was flowing and a few people, including Riddick, were in charge of counting it and accounting for it. Employees who back-checked Riddick’s counting of funds (without her knowledge) were the ones who reported some shortfalls, instances where what they counted, before the money went to Riddick for a final count, was more what her final count was.
An audit looking at transactions over a 10-year period found more than $2 million could not be accounted for. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, who did a good job overseeing the investigation ordered by top county officials, said that some of the missing money might reflect times in which clerks thought someone was too poor to pay fees and issued a document without noting a decision to not collect a fee.
The system was flawed, clearly.
This is a sad day not just for those charged but for Riddick’s family and friends and for that matter, for the citizens of Wake County, who trusted her with this office. Riddick is an affable person and now, according to her and others, one facing serious health issues. Her situation is one with which even those who are most critical of her handling of her office and most disturbed by the allegations she faces can sympathize.
The crisis has drawn incredulous reactions throughout the Wake County “courthouse crowd” where Riddick has been a familiar figure. With the caveat that there has not yet been a trial to determine a final telling of the story, the questions are: How could it happen? Why would it happen? Why did the system exist?
Answers will presumably be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead.
This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 12:39 PM with the headline "In Wake, a sad day as the former register of deeds faces charges."