By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Osceola County’s Clerk of Court's Finance Director April Reynolds was terminated Aug. 17 after an investigation found she had allegedly taken $1,000 from an employee holiday fund.

According to Osceola County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Twis Lizasuain, the Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating the criminal compliant filed by the Clerk of Court's office and as of Monday, no arrest had been made in connection with the case.

Reynolds, 32, paid back $600 of the $1,000 she was said to have taken.

“We don’t know if it will be paid back,” Amy Envall, spokesperson for the clerk’s office, said. “We haven't spoken with her.”

Without that $400, the employee holiday fund sits at $6,000, as of Monday.

Clerk of Court employees contribute to the annual holiday fund, used for a holiday party and other expenditures, by purchasing snacks and beverages in the employee break room and through other various voluntary donations throughout the year. A rotating balance of $1,500 is carried over every year.

According to Envall, Reynolds did not have sole access to any publicly funded accounts and a complete audit showed all is in order with those accounts.

“This is an unfortunate, opportunistic incident that our employee annual background checks would not have revealed. We are relieved that this incident was discovered and allowed us to further strengthen our internal systems,” Malcom Thompson, Osceola County Clerk of Court, said in a press release. “With respect to the money that is collected from the public for fees and fines, please rest assured that a thorough audit was conducted and it is believed that those funds remain completely intact. We will continue to monitor those funds and will act accordingly should any discrepancies be found. There are more than adequate checks and balances in place to prevent employees from improperly accessing fees and fines collected from the public.”

Reynolds had been with the office since May 1999.