Jan Jutte
Jan Jutte served as the acting Washington state auditor from May 4, 2015, until December 8, 2015. Jutte assumed the responsibilities of the auditor's office following Auditor Troy Kelley's (D) decision to take an unpaid leave to defend himself against federal indictments. Jutte was committed to serve through October 2016 if necessary, but she did not seek election and said she would not have sought an extended appointment if Kelley had resigned from office.[1] Amid calls for his impeachment, Kelley returned to work on December 8, 2015, and Jutte resumed her duties as deputy auditor.[2]
To learn more about the circumstances of Kelley's unpaid leave, click here.
Biography
Education
- Graduate, St. Martin's University[3]
Career
Jutte worked as the operations director for the Washington State Auditor's Office prior to assuming her interim responsibilities as auditor. She has worked for the office for 30 years including six years as legal affairs director. Jutte is a certified public accountant (CPA) and a certified financial manager (CGFM) in the state of Washington.[3]
Political career
Washington State Auditor (2015)
Jutte first assumed the duties of the auditor's office on May 4, 2015. She remained in office until Kelley returned to the position on December 8, 2015.[4] As the office's operations director, Jutte earns $10 less than Kelley for an annual salary of $116,940. Jutte announced that she would not run for a full term as auditor in the 2016 statewide election.[5]
Federal investigation and recall effort against Kelley
- See also: State Auditor recall, Washington (2015)
Former state legislator Will Knedlik filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office on April 3, 2015, to remove Kelley from office. This recall effort stems in part from a federal investigation of Kelley's past business dealings.[6]
Kelley and department employee Jason JeRue became entangled in a federal grand jury investigation into past business dealings in March 2015. A subpoena issued by the jury on March 5, 2015, sought emails between Kelley and JeRue related to Post Closing Department, an escrow firm previously owned by Kelley accused of withholding $1.2 million in refunds from a former client. Kelley denied any connection to the firm's actions and agreed to a settlement to resolve the case in 2011.
Federal treasury agents searched Kelley's home as part of the investigation on March 16, 2015. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) called on Kelley to recuse himself from official duties dealing with the case but did not ask for his resignation. State Sen. Mark Miloscia (R) asked for greater transparency, saying, "The people and voters of this state deserve an explanation so we can understand the reason for these events and be able to make our own decisions about what it means or choose to investigate further. This must happen very quickly if we’re going to keep public trust in our government."[7] On May 4, JeRue was fired from the agency after several weeks of unpaid leave.[8]
Kelley's office handed over 53 emails from his office email account sent between January 1 and March 19, though none of these emails involved JeRue. State Rep. Dan Kristiansen (R) expressed skepticism that Kelley and JeRue had not maintained contact given their longstanding friendship, saying, "You'd think there would be communiques they exchange in the course of operations, the way we all live now." Kelley and JeRue met in the late 1990s and the auditor hired JeRue as a part-time technical writer following his election in 2012.[9]
Grand jury indictment
- See the full text of the indictment here
On April 16, 2015, the federal grand jury indicted Kelley on 10 charges including possession of stolen property, four counts of false declaration and attempted obstruction of a civil lawsuit related to his tenure as owner of Post Closing Department. The indictment also concluded that Kelley hid $2,581,653 in funds from the Internal Revenue Service. Kelley pleaded not guilty to the charges but announced in a statement that he would take a leave of absence on May 1 to mount his legal defense.[10] Kelley ultimately took his unpaid leave from office starting May 4, 2015; however he returned to work in December 2015 despite objections from state officials.[11][12] Gov. Inslee made the following statement after the announcement of the indictment:
| “ |
This indictment today makes it clear to me that Troy Kelley cannot continue as state auditor. He should resign immediately. An appointee can restore confidence in the office and assure the public that the Office of the State Auditor will operate at the high standards required of the post. [13] |
” |
| —The Seattle Times, (2015) | ||
Calls for resignation
Within 24 hours of Kelley's indictment, high-ranking officials called for his resignation including Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), State Treasurer Jim McIntire (D), Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R) and the state Democratic Party. These calls for resignation were due in part to the difficulty of impeaching or recalling a statewide official. The state constitution allows for impeachment of state executive officials with a majority of the Washington House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Washington State Senate based on charges of high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance. A conviction on a felony charge qualifying as a high crime or misdemeanor would lead to Kelley's resignation. The malfeasance clause only deals with actions taken in office while the federal indictment covered Kelley's pre-election career.[14]
Kelley stated that it was not likely that he would run for re-election in 2016.[15] Had he resigned, Inslee would have appointed a replacement to serve until the end of his term in January 2017. Kelley would have been forced by state law to resign if he was convicted of a felony.[10][16] His trial began March 14, 2016.[15]
State legislators propose "leave of absence" appointment rule
State Reps. Drew Stokesbary (R) and Drew MacEwen (R) introduced House Bill 2249 on April 28, in hopes of expanding the governor's power to replace absent elected officials. HB 2249 would allow the governor to appoint a full-time replacement for any elected official who has taken a leave of absence unrelated to medical issues or military duties. This proposal would have expanded appointment powers beyond the high crimes, misdemeanor or malfeasance requirements for replacement.[17]
Federal trial
Kelley's federal trial began with jury selection on March 14, 2016, with U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton presiding. The trial was expected to last four weeks.[11]
Court filings showed that Kelley's former employee Jason JeRue was slated to testify on behalf of the prosecution in exchange for immunity. However, Kelley's attorneys cast aspersions on JeRue's credibility and asserted that Kelley was being unfairly targeted as an elected official.[18]
On April 26, 2016, a federal jury acquitted Kelley on one of the 15 counts against him and announced that they could not agree on the other 14 counts. He would have faced up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.[11][19] Gov. Inslee said after the verdict that he would wait to see what prosecutors decided to do in the wake of the deadlocked jury. Inslee added that "regardless of the outcome in court today, serious questions remain about Troy Kelley's ability to successfully fulfill his role as state auditor."[20]
Recent news
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See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "State-auditor employee of 30 years to step in for indicted boss," April 29, 2015
- ↑ Seattle Times, "Auditor Troy Kelley’s answer to impeachment threat: ‘I’m officially back’," accessed July 14, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Washington State Auditor's Office, "About Acting State Auditor Jan Jutte," accessed May 6, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedend - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtemp - ↑ Peninsula Daily Times, "Former legislator files recall papers on Washington state auditor," April 4, 2015
- ↑ Q13 Fox, "Federal subpoena of State Auditor Troy Kelley’s office seeks records of employee," March 20, 2015
- ↑ KREM, "Employee with ties to investigation of WA auditor fire," May 4, 2015
- ↑ Greenfield Reporter, "State: No emails between Auditor Troy Kelley and employee who is longtime associate," April 2, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Seattle Times, "Auditor Troy Kelley indicted by feds, pleads not guilty," April 16, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Seattle Times, "Federal trial starts Monday for indicted State Auditor Troy Kelley," March 12, 2016
- ↑ SFGate, "Auditor Troy Kelley says unpaid leave will start Monday," April 28, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Spokesman-Review, "Spin Control: Ousting state auditor Troy Kelley may be difficult," April 19, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The News Tribune, "No recall for Auditor Troy Kelley," March 3, 2016
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "RCW 42.12.040 Vacancy in partisan elective office — Successor elected — When," accessed April 16, 2015
- ↑ KREM, "Wash. lawmakers intro bill in response to Auditor's leave," April 28, 2015
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Ex-employee Jason JeRue expected to testify in trial of Auditor Troy Kelley," March 13, 2016
- ↑ Seattle Times, "State Auditor Troy Kelley acquitted of one charge; jury cannot agree on 14 others," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ ABC News, "The Latest: Governor Awaiting Next Move in Auditor Case," accessed April 27, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Troy Kelley (D) |
Interim Washington Auditor 2015 |
Succeeded by Troy Kelley (D) |
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