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<\/a>Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>
The Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk’s Office.<\/p><\/div>\n
The changes come at the recommendation<\/a> of a bipartisan panel Clerk Lynn Ellins created\u00a0after several employees of the office were arrested in June<\/a>. Those employees were\u00a0charged in an\u00a0alleged\u00a0binational scam to cash fraudulently obtained federal tax refund checks using names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth taken from the county’s voter file.<\/p>\n Among the changes Ellins announced today in a news release:<\/p>\n In addition, Ellins said the state vendor responsible for the Voter Registration Electronic Management System has provided an option to mask Social Security numbers from screens showing search results.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the steps we\u2019ve taken establish Do\u00f1a Ana County as a leader in the state in terms of providing the most protection possible for keeping identities safe going forward,\u201d Ellins said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to work with the prosecutors to ensure that the former employees who betrayed the public trust are held accountable,” he said. “The new steps are a giant step toward ensuring that nothing like this ever occurs in this office again.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellins said he also is implementing an annual training program related to ethics, safe practices and keeping the public trust.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have modeled our training going forward on both the hospital and banking industries,\u201d Ellins said. \u201cEach employee will undergo the training — and each year, each employee will sign an acknowledgment of the laws and ethical principles that apply to this office as a condition of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellins said he is working with the Do\u00f1a Ana County Information Technology Department to upgrade video surveillance and workplace-monitoring systems, and a new camera will be positioned to monitor access to the voter-registration documents that are kept on file.<\/p>\n Ellins said he is hopeful other clerks\u2019 offices across the state will adopt similar models.<\/p>\n He thanked the members of the task force who helped come up with the recommendations to improve security —\u00a0Russell Allen, Paul Deason, Gwendolyn Hanson, John Hummer and John Mu\u00f1oz.<\/p>\n\n