Clinton County Sues Rep. Clements

Following up on a post from a week or so ago, Representative Jacque Clements (R-Frankfort), along with Nikish Software Corp., has been sued by Clinton County. Nikish, a company that sells tax software, has had its contract terminated by Clinton County and has apparently been butting heads with the county over issues related to transitioning from Nikish to another software vendor.

Rep. Clements has been accused by the county of being overly involved with Nikish and another tax software vendor, Manatron, while she was the Clinton County Auditor. From the Frankfort Times article, I believe Nikish was a company that branched off from Manatron.

According to the suit, Nikish’s software “is in violation of numerous Indiana state law requirements for property tax software.”

The document also accuses Clements on several levels, including while she served as county auditor beginning in 2004.

“…(She) also served as either a consultant or employee of defendant Nikish,” the report states, “while at the same time serving as either a consultant or employee of a competitor … Manatron.”
. . .
[Clinton County Attorney, Ted] Johnson later clarified his comments in an e-mail sent to The Times.

“The attachment (with documentation) shows that Clements was still working for Manatron — which had a contract for tax billing software with Clinton County until December 2007,” he stated.
. . .
Specifically, Clements allegedly “took steps” to convince the county to convert to Nikish as its software provider when the company formed after branching away from Manatron.

She reportedly stated Manatron would charge $231,000 for software services — compared to the $5,000 actual figure.

Further, she allegedly negotiated with Nikish herself and declined to inform the county the two companies were prepared to enter litigation over rights to the software. Manatron alleged Nikish had no rights to the data.

After entering the contract, Clements allegedly paid Nikish in excess of the figures in the contract and without the assistance of MIS Director Bill Clinton.