The newly sworn-in Republican Kentucky Attorney General, Russell Coleman, just a few days into his position, announced on Thursday, January 4, that the Owsley County Clerk was indicted on multiple charges.

Shanna Oliver, 41, of Booneville, KY., was indicted by the Special Prosecutions Division of the KY. Commonwealth Attorney General office.

On Wednesday, January 3, a Franklin County Grand Jury indicted Shanna Oliver on one count of tampering with public records, (a Class D felony), and one count of official misconduct (a Class B misdemeanor).

According to the indictment, Shanna Oliver unlawfully refused to deliver public records in her possession to public servants from the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation, who were lawfully entitled to receive the records for examination or other purposes.

The indictment also said Shanna Oliver unlawfully refrained from performing her duty when she failed to send paperwork regarding the purchase of a trailer to the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation.

Hazard, KY. television news station WYMT interviewed a local resident, Kennedi Little, who lives in Owsley County, who stated she had faced her own personal struggles dealing with Shanna Oliver’s county clerk office.

“It’s been seven or eight months, and we still haven’t received a title for that vehicle. I don’t know if it’s being processed and just not being produced or if it’s not being sent in, I don’t know what’s going on but we’re not getting it,” Kennedi Little said in the interview.

Ms. Little said she was surprised to see something finally done.

“I was actually very surprised that it had actually happened because living in a small town, everybody knows everybody, and it was more or less a shock that something had actually been done, because this is something that’s been going on for several months,” Kennedi Little stated.

Kennedi Little said it has been an inconvenience for herself and many other residents.

“Seven months on a title is entirely too long, when I was trying to sell a car, I couldn’t even sell it because I didn’t have the title for it. So, it’s just always an inconvenience,” Ms. Little explained. “I wish that there could be a way to get everything orderly and fixed properly.”

Kennedi Little said she wanted to see something done about the Owsley County office once it is reopened.

“The office needs to be cleaned up, it needs to be organized, it needs to be ran as a state office and not when needed. It’s needed everyday, it doesn’t need to be ran when wanted to be ran,” Little added.

Besides the major specific troubles that led to Shanna’s Oliver’s indictment charges, there were additional recent allegations by local regional realtors who were claiming that home closings halted because of problems at Shanna Oliver’s clerk’s office during this past month of December 2023..

One real estate agent said homes could not be closed on in Owsley County because agents could not get into the county clerk’s office.

“If it falls through, then we have all lost money, and this will be the second home they’ve had fall through in the state of Kentucky,” said Brianna Wallace.

The final piece to the property puzzle deals with title insurance and that has to be taken care of within the clerk’s office.

Brianna Wallace said she faced a closed door numerous times, and the one time she did get in, Ms. Wallace took video of the experience.

“The condition of the clerk’s office was very unorganized and very unprofessional,” Brianna Wallace explained.

Brianna Wallace said home closings usually take 30 days, but this closing has taken almost three months with no resolution in sight due to the issues with Shanna Oliveers coounty clerk office .

The Owsley County Clerk Office has faced trouble for nearly a ten year-decade period.

In 2014, the state auditor said that the former Owsley County Clerk, Sid Gabbard, did not properly pay taxing districts Shanna Oliver was a deputy clerk under Sid Gabbard, whose bookkeeping was so bad that auditors weren’t able to express an opinion on the accuracy of his financial statements for a decade. A grand jury ultimately indicted him over problems cited in audits.

Sid Gabbard resigned in June 2013, after being charged and entered an Alford plea to charges of filing false tax returns and abuse of public trust. The plea meant he did not admit guilt but acknowledged there was sufficient evidence to convict him. He received a probated sentence as part of a deal to pay restitution. Shanna Oliver was appointed to replace him and has since won election to the office.

Two years later, Shanna Oliver also received an unfavorable report from the state auditor for reportedly not doing her job.

Auditor Mike Harmon reported that Shanna Oliver did not keep adequate records of receipts and expenditures; and that these problems have continued since then and up to the present day.

The Owsley County Judge-Executive said he was made aware of numerous complaints of people having to travel to other counties to renew vehicle tags and pay taxes.

Owsley County officials last month said that Shanna Oliver has been keeping her office closed for several days per week and is planning to retire in several weeks in early 2024.