The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is looking into allegations the Clerk of Courts in Lebanon County is neglecting her duties. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Lebanon District Attorney David Arnold requested the investigation of Lisa Arnold for failing to file records with PennDOT after judgements were rendered in cases involving suspensions of drivers’ licenses. A former Clerk of Court employee, Candis Carpenter, resigned in May of 2013 and told County Commissioners Arnold was “intentionally and continuously” not submitting licenses to PennDOT when the judge had sentenced a defendant to a charge that required a suspension of driving privileges. Law dictates Arnold was supposed to file records within 10 days of a judgement.
Conversely, some drivers did not have their licenses restored in a timely manner because of Arnold’s inaction.
The County Administrator, Commissioners and Probation Officers all told investigators the same story over and over again: Arnold is not doing her job. Carpenter says Arnold instructed Clerk of Court employees to place the licenses and all supporting paperwork collected during sentencing in a plastic bag and drop them in a filing cabinet drawer.
Arnold, 48, was re-elected in 2011. She is serving her third term as Clerk of Court.