Judge ousts Karen Spranger as Macomb County clerk

A judge ousted Karen Spranger from office Tuesday, ruling she was not legally elected as the Macomb County clerk/register of deeds because she lied about her residency in her election filings.

"Because she did not reside in Macomb County, Spranger was not a qualified elector of Macomb County. ... By law, if Spranger was not eligible to run for county clerk, she has no right to currently hold that office," St. Clair County Circuit Judge Daniel Kelly wrote in his 17-page order.

Kelly, who was assigned the case after Macomb judges all recused themselves, ordered that Spranger be immediately removed from office, ending a 15-month saga that one county official said turned the clerk's office into a "toxic" environment.

"I'm confident the judge's ruling is appropriate," Macomb County Board Chairman Bob Smith said. "The Board of Commissioners is ready to assist as appropriate or needed."

Spranger ignored questions from reporters as they followed as she walked for a couple of blocks from her office in the Talmer Building to the county parking garage, where she got into her car by herself and drove off. She was initially unable to get out of the gated garage because her county employee ID card had been deactivated, but then was let out by security.

Her departure came as county employees were leaving the county complex for the workday.

Under state law, Spranger's temporary replacement will be named by Macomb County Circuit judges and will hold the position through the November election, said county Corporation Counsel John Schapka. The deadline to file to run for the November election is April 24.

Schapka said he was told the judges are expected to meet Thursday night and will decide on Spranger's replacement using a simple-majority vote. Spranger ran both the county clerk's and the register of deeds offices, and was in charge of overseeing elections in the county.

Fred Woodhams, spokesman for the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, said the state agency won’t jump in, with Spranger’s departure, to help administer the upcoming elections.

“The Macomb County Clerk’s Office has an experienced elections division that is capable of administering its elections duties and has our full support,” Woodhams said in an e-mailed statement.

In its arguments before Kelly, the county contended Spranger should be disqualified from finishing her four-year term, claiming she lied about her residency when she filed her election paperwork Spranger listed a house on Hudson in Warren as her residence, but the county contends the house had no utilities and was uninhabitable, filled with "wall-to-wall garbage, feces and animals," court records show.

The county also cited Spranger's Bridge card expenses, arguing she only shopped for groceries in Wayne County using her Bridge card, even though the same stores were located closer to the Warren home she claimed to live in.

Spranger maintained that she was simply poor, but did live in the house.

The judge didn't buy it.

"All of the evidence presented by Macomb County is unrebutted," Judge Kelly wrote.

"She claims to have resided in Macomb County, but provides no documentary evidence to support that assertion. She clearly did not reside (on) Hudson, and yet she has not told this Court where she actually 'laid her head,' " Kelly wrote.

More: Ousting Macomb County clerk Spranger from plum job rests on: Did she lie?

More: Karen Spranger: Agent of change or simply unqualified to hold Macomb clerk's job?

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said three criminal investigations involving Spranger will continue, including one to determine whether she committed perjury by lying on her election filing. He said he will meet with the sheriff's office, the investigators and his attorneys on what will be the best course of action in the perjury case, adding it's a very difficult charge to prove.

This past weekend, county officials revealed the Sheriff’s Office was asked to investigate whether Spranger improperly used taxpayer funds to pay for someone who does not work for the county to attend a national convention in Washington. And on Monday, there were allegations that she kicked a clerk in her office during a confrontation.

Spranger was unemployed and had no prior political experience when she was elected in November 2016 as a Tea Party-style Republican on the coattails of President Donald Trump. She was known as a political gadfly in Warren, where she sometimes showed up at government meetings in tinfoil accessories and dark glasses to protest smart utility meters and had been behind repeated attempts to recall at least one local official.

In the years prior to taking over the $108,800-per-year county job, Spranger received public assistance, including a state-issued Bridge card.

She has been a lightning rod for controversy since she took office on Jan. 1, 2017. In her first half year on the job, she got kicked off her county computer for allowing non-county workers on it; fired her two top appointed deputies; sued the county over a litany of issues, and was named as a defendant in three other lawsuits, including a whistle-blower complaint in federal court filed by her former top aides.

She was fined $100 for a county ethics violation; totaled her county car in a crash; filed a criminal complaint about the news media harassing her; and was caught on video pushing storage bins to a construction area before an office move she opposed.

She has also claimed she has been reincarnated and was an aide to Egyptian royalty in a previous life. On Monday, her appointed chief deputy clerk, Jacqueline Ryan, told a Free Press reporter that Spranger had written a letter to President Donald Trump and U.S. marshals may be on their way to help.

The news of Spranger’s ouster brought a big sigh of relief to many who worked at the county offices.

“In the last two weeks, the climate in her office has been beyond toxic,” Schapka said.

He called Spranger’s ouster a “tremendously good thing for the county, employees, taxpayers — for everyone who uses the services of the clerk’s office.”

“We can return to an efficient, orderly and timely delivery of services to the public,” Schapka said. “The petulant, childishness goes beyond any words I have to describe its extreme.”

Executive Mark Hackel views the case and ruling as historic, noting he's not aware of a judge removing an elected official in the county's 200-year history. He said the question about Spranger's residency needed to be answered.



Hackel said he believes integrity will be restored to the clerk's office, which won national awards under the former Clerk/Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh — and said he had "never seen such disarray of a public official."

Donna Cangemi, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 411, which represents about 60 employees in the clerk's and register of deeds offices, called the ruling "great news." Cangemi has had to handle numerous grievances filed against Spranger by union members.

"Obviously, we're feeling great relief," she said. "It's been a difficult 15 months for everyone involved,"

Cangemi expressed concern that Ryan may remain in place as the appointed deputy register of deeds.

"Without Karen there, she can do damage," Cangemi said. "I have faith that the county is gonna be aware of that and minimize how much damage she can do."

Meanwhile, the Macomb County Republican Party chair is urging judges to replace Spranger with a Republican, stating "voters spoke loudly for change in 2016 delivering historic victories up and down the ticket for Republican leadership."

"When making this important appointment, the judges should honor the will of the voters for Republican leadership in the office of County Clerk that was spoken with their votes," stated party chair Cathy Kirk. "A Republican should be appointed.”



Free Press staff writer Kathleen Gray contributed to this report.

Read the judge's order: