Chattooga County Probate Court Judge Jon PayneA couple of Chattooga County, Ga., elected officials are bickering over $76,000.
About a month ago, Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters visited Probate Court Judge Jon Payne’s office. He told Payne the county’s auditor recently noticed something odd: Payne had cut checks to himself, worth $35,813 in 2015 and $40,410 in 2016.
Payne said the money came from the fees people paid for copies of birth and death certificates. He told the commissioner he was entitled to keep it. The commissioner told him he wasn’t.
“He said, ‘Why do you think you are supposed to make more money than I do?'” Payne recalled this week. “I said, ‘I don’t think I’m supposed to. But I’m a heck of a lot better looking than you are. I work a heck of a lot harder than you do. And I take a heck of a lot better care of the people than you do.'”
According to the Department of Community Affairs’ 2015 survey of elected officials, Winters makes about $104,000 a year. Payne makes $98,000. That doesn’t include the bonus checks.