BEDFORD – Former Lawrence County Auditor and Oolitic Town Clerk-Treasurer Jessica Staggs appeared in Lawrence Superior Court II on Monday for her initial hearing. Staggs was arrested Monday, August 12, at 10:30 a.m. after a warrant was issued.
She is facing one charge of official misconduct, a Level 6 felony.
She surrendered herself to the Lawrence County Jail without incident. Staggs placed a $755 cash bond and was released at 11:40 a.m.
Judge Robert Cline recused himself and asked for a special judge to hear the case during Staggs’ hearing on Monday.
A letter from concerned taxpayers was submitted to the court records during the hearing.
The letter was addressed to Judge Cline:
It was recently discovered that the former Oolitic Town Clerk-Treasurer and Lawrence County Auditor Jessica Staggs, who is currently facing a felony charge, has been allowed to use a different name for her court filings. For some reason, her case is filed as her name being Jessica Jones-Staggs even though she had NOT used this as her name in any other capacity. Although Jones is her maiden mane, as someone close to the family I can confirm that she has now been married for over 20 years and has NEVER used Jones or even a hyphenated version of her maiden and married name.
Furthermore, as an elected official, she is only known by the taxpayers as Jessica Staggs. Her campaign ads, Facebook page, and even her official campaign finance forms filed with the State of Indiana show no mention of her surname. According to the Indiana Gateway system online, all of her payroll money has been issued to Jessica Staggs, NOT Jessica Jones-Staggs. Likewise, her legal name on her taxes, insurance, vehicle registrations, etc, most likely all say Jessica Staggs. If any or all of these things are true, why is the court case showing a completely different name other than her legal name used in every other instance?
It would seem that she suddenly decided to add her surname in yet another attempt to deceive the community. Of course, this trick also makes it harder for the average person to look her up on mycase.in.gov to see any possible charges/history. This should absolutely not be allowed under any circumstances and sets a bad precedent for others to follow. What if child molesters start randomly using other names in an attempt to not be recognized/discovered?
As the Judge presiding over this case, it is our hope that you correct this serious matter and force the cause proceedings to be changed to her true and current legal name of Jessica Staggs. You have the power and authority to fix this. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. This here is wrong and should not be tolerated. It is also our hope that more charges will follow because what is currently there does not meet the seriousness of what she did, especially as an elected official who took an oath to serve us, the people. We are praying that you will take your oath seriously and make this right.
Respectfully,
Several Concerned taxpayers
In November 2023, the Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Board of Accounts contacted Lawrence County Prosecutor Sam Arp about the then-Lawrence County Auditor Jessica Staggs. Jim Gallagher was appointed the special/senior prosecutor. He reviewed the case and issued a warrant for Staggs’ arrest.
The State Board of Accounts Special Investigation Report into former Town Clerk-Treasurer Jessica Staggs’ handling of town funds found her to have been malfeasant, misfeasance, and nonfeasance in her duties. Staggs resigned as Lawrence County Auditor in December 2023.
Investigators found Staggs did not deposit more than $79,816.88 in utility receipts from January 1, 2015, to December 1, 2020.
Staggs served as the Ooltic Clerk-Treasurer between October 2014 and December 2020.
