By Michael Howell
Former County Treasurer Valerie Stamey failed to respond to the court after being served papers concerning the civil lawsuit in which the county alleges 58 separate instances of failing to perform her official duties and fines totaling $29,000. It took about two years for the summons to be served on Stamey, who left Montana after being charged with the crimes. Stamey did respond directly to County Attorney Bill Fulbright, however, in a personal letter to him dated May 28, 2016.
In the letter to Fulbright, Stamey claims that the summons served upon her in South Carolina is “constitutionally invalid.”
“This letter serves notice to you that if you continue in this action against me, I will seek legal remedies. I have made you aware of the flaw in your continuing to waste tax dollars to try and illegally serve me. It is amazing to me you did not recognize this flaw before spending so much time and money. This certainly speaks to your lack of competency as Ravalli County Attorney and Auditor,” wrote Stamey.
Stamey also blames Fulbright and CFO Klarysse Murphy for her troubles. She claims that Fulbright shirked his duties as County Auditor and that if he had done his duty she would have been able to perform hers. She claims Fulbright hired a private audit firm to investigate the allegations against her because an investigation by the state Department of Administration would have uncovered his shortcomings. Stamey also claims that the tax office staff sabotaged her position by refusing to deposit checks. When she was locked out of her office, close to $750,000 in undeposited checks was found in boxes all over the office. She also claims that CFO Klarysse Murphy refused to allow her to file her financial reports because they were not balanced, even though she allowed previous treasurers to do so.
Finally, Stamey claims that the fact that no money was discovered to be missing is “conveniently left out” of the attacks upon her.
“The omission of this clear finding continues to point to your deliberate and malicious attacks on me,” she wrote.
Deputy County Attorney Howard Recht said that a personal letter to the County Attorney is not a sufficient response to the court summons that was served upon her. He said the county may ask for a default judgment against her for failure to respond.
Stamey already had two default judgments against her, one in Ravalli County District Court and one in a South Carolina court, when she was appointed as Ravalli County Treasurer. She was suspended from her job as Treasurer in June 2014 after failing to address the South Carolina judgment in which she was accused of cashing an $18,000 check twice. Instead, Stamey unleashed a barrage of criminal accusations, not only against Fulbright and Murphy but against two commissioners, office staff and others including the audit firm that was conducting an investigation of the office. A lawsuit filed against the audit firm was subsequently dropped.
Stamey is currently suing the Bitterroot Star in federal court alleging libel. That case is still pending.