{"id":44324,"date":"2026-04-04T13:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/44324\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T13:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:38:08","slug":"acting-court-clerk-appointed-during-geneva-county-theft-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/44324\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting court clerk appointed during Geneva County theft investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">GENEVA COUNTY, Ala. (WTVY) &#8211; A retired employee returns to the Geneva County Circuit Clerk\u2019s Office while authorities investigate suspected embezzlement and the ouster of the office\u2019s boss. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Jane Fulford comes out of retirement to become acting clerk, overseeing day-to-day operations and handling election duties. Geneva County Presiding Judge William Filmore made the appointment, which Sheriff Tony Helms confirmed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Fulford previously worked in the clerk\u2019s office for years. Her return comes as the office faces an investigation into potentially missing funds that authorities suspect may have been stolen by Circuit Clerk Ashley Powell.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Geneva County Circuit Clerk Ashley Powell\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/VZXZLOFHINF6DOI6RS5AXPJ65Y.jpg\" width=\"980\" height=\"933\" \/>Geneva County Circuit Clerk Ashley Powell(AOC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Filmore barred Powell from the office last month about the time agents with the Alabama Attorney General\u2019s Office were in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The attorney general\u2019s office, citing policy, would neither confirm nor deny the investigation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It is not known whether the case WILL be taken up at the next session on April 9 or at one of two other sessions scheduled later this year. Investigators could file charges and arrest Powell before any grand jury presentation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Powell, while not allowed in the office, continues to draw her salary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | text-start article-text\">Download the WTVY News4 app to get alerts and stories the moment they are published. Available for FREE in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wtvy-news-4\/id420970403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wtvy-news-4\/id420970403\">Apple App Store<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.graytv.android.wtvynews&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.graytv.android.wtvynews&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\">Google Play Store!<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 WTVY. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA COUNTY, Ala. (WTVY) &#8211; A retired employee returns to the Geneva County Circuit Clerk\u2019s Office while authorities&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2533,20718,25584,20716,25576,25583,25580,65,2531,25575,25585,25578,25579,25582,25577,25581,3815,3817,3816],"class_list":{"0":"post-44324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-alabama","9":"tag-alabama-attorney-general","10":"tag-alabama-embezzlement","11":"tag-ashley-powell","12":"tag-ashley-powell-geneva-county","13":"tag-filmore-geneva-county","14":"tag-fulford-geneva-county","15":"tag-geneva","16":"tag-geneva-county","17":"tag-geneva-county-circuit-clerk","18":"tag-geneva-county-embezzlement","19":"tag-jane-fulford","20":"tag-jane-fulford-geneva-county","21":"tag-judge-filmore","22":"tag-powell-geneva-county","23":"tag-william-filmore","24":"tag-wtvy","25":"tag-wtvy-news-4","26":"tag-wtvy-news4"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116346716468794221","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}