Spranger Deputy Refuses Removal From Macomb Clerk's Office

MOUNT CLEMENS, MI — In a bizarre turn of events, former Macomb County Clerk Karen Spranger’s top lieutenant Jacqueline Ryan refused to accept county-ordered administrative leave Wednesday morning, sitting in her minivan outside the clerk’s office until the offices closed at 7 p.m.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Ryan, who sat in front of the Talmer Building all day, insists only the president or the governor can remove Spranger. Tuesday, a judge in Port Huron ruled that Spranger was not a resident of Macomb County, and that she had never been eligible to be county clerk, an office she won in 2016. The judge’s ruling ordered Spranger removed from office, effective immediately.

After Spranger’s removal, county officials put Ryan on paid administrative leave and terminated her access to county computers and work sites. Despite Judge Daniel Kelly’s ruling that Spranger should be removed because she falsified an affidavit attesting to her address and is not a county resident, Ryan insists that federal marshals or even Donald Trump will step in to save her former boss’ job. Macomb officials say this is a fabrication.

This isn’t Ryan’s first brush with controversy. As Spranger’s hand-selected lieutenant, she sparred with the public and county employees, and last month, left a threatening message on Spranger’s attorney’s voicemail. In the message. Ryan accused Frank Cusumano, who represented Spranger in the removal proceedings at county expense, of not standing up for Spranger. According to the Free Press, Ryan claimed this made county staffers “irate,” and that Cusumano couldn’t walk into county offices safely: “We're going to lynch you. For what you didn't stand up for Karen and our office the right truth of what's happening. We are mad at you beyond mad."

A sheriff’s deputy kept watch on Ryan as county employees left work for the day. Chief Circuit Court Judge James Biernat tapped a veteran Macomb County employee, Kathy Brower to serve as interim county clerk until an April meeting where a panel of judges will appoint a permanent successor for the rest of Spranger’s term. Brower has been a Macomb County Employee since 1992.

>>>For complete coverage, follow this story in the Detroit Free Press.

Photo of the Talmer Building courtesy of Macomb County.