By Michael Howell
Former Ravalli County Treasurer Valerie Stamey, aka/Valerie Addis, aka/Valerie Scott, has finally been served papers in the civil suit filed against her by the Ravalli County Commissioners. Stamey fled the county after being suspended from office and charged by the county commissioners with 58 instances of failing to perform her official duties as treasurer. They fined her $29,000 for the violations.
Stamey threw the county into havoc after taking office. She was either unable or unwilling to process tax deposits and just under a million dollars was found in undeposited cash and checks on her desk and stored in boxes on the floor of her office after she was locked out of it. Taxing districts across the county such as the library and irrigation districts were not receiving their funds and were unable to reconcile their books. Some were even running out of money before the commissioners finally took action.
The commissioners filed their lawsuit against her in June of 2014. Local authorities tried to serve her a summons in the case but were unable to locate her. But after two years they finally got a break.
“We got an anonymous tip from someone in the valley,” said Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman. The tip consisted of a greeting card sent by Stamey with a return address on it. The address was in South Carolina. Hoffman contacted local authorities in that state.
“We weren’t involved in it, but I understand that she was served,” said Hoffman.
Deputy County Attorney Howard Recht confirmed that Stamey had been served on May 9, in Landrum, South Carolina. Recht said that Stamey would have 21 days from the time of service to respond to the summons.
According to Recht, Stamey can either file something with the court in her defense, or settle the case out of court.
“It’s early,” he said, “to predict what will happen.”
If Stamey fails to file a response in the 21-day time period, the county may ask for a default judgment.
Stamey had two default judgments on the books, one in Ravalli County and one in South Carolina, when the commissioners appointed her to the treasurer’s position. In the South Carolina case, Stamey had been accused of cashing an $18,149 check twice that she received after refinancing her home.
When the South Carolina judgment was made public by the Bitterroot Star, the commissioners asked Stamey to explain it. Instead, she made a statement accusing two of the county commissioners and other county employees of a long list of crimes. That’s when the commissioners put her on administrative leave and began a process that culminated in the civil lawsuit being filed against her for failure to perform her official duties.
The county had to bring in a treasurer from outside the county and hire an accounting firm at the cost of about $120,000 to get the treasurer’s office back on track.