Ex-clerk’s case put off till March

Accused of taking gifts to bypass rules

The case against a former Shelby County auto -title clerk charged with bribery of a public servant was reset Tuesday, though no new trial was announced.

Millicent Rogers, 45, one of more than a half- dozen clerks charged, was tried in December, but the case ended with a deadlocked Criminal Court jury, and a mistrial was declared.

She will return to court next month when prosecutors are expected to announce whether they will retry the case.

About 16 people, including eight auto -title clerks and former City Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware, were charged with taking bribes or official misconduct since an investigation into the Shelby County Clerk’s Office began several years ago.

Rogers and other clerks are accused of accepting money to allow motorists to renew auto registrations without the required inspection. Three clerks allegedly accepted cash from Ware to help her bypass motor vehicle inspections at least eight times between 2002 and 2009.

Ware, 72, who was charged with official misconduct, is on pretrial diversion until June when the charges will be dismissed if she abides by conditions of an agreement with prosecutors.

In November, former clerk Jacqueline Denson, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, was ordered to begin serving an eightyear prison sentence after she told a judge she was being “railroaded” and that clerks “have been set up.”

About a half- dozen other clerks or notary publics who falsified documents and bribed clerks have pleaded guilty in federal court . — Lawrence B user:

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