About 160 engaged couples in Anoka County were blissfully ignorant of how a clerk was taking advantage of their happy occasion to make a quick buck.
Over three years, Connie J. Smith made $7,197 from forged or inaccurate marriage license applications, according to criminal charges. One modus operandi was quite simple: Couples receive a $60 discount if they take 12 hours of premarital counseling. For some of those who did not and paid the full $110, she would create dummy paperwork and pocket the additional money, said assistant county attorney Kurt Deile.
Smith, 52, of Ramsey, pleaded guilty Monday to felony theft over $5,000 and could be sentenced to 45 days in jail. Two other felony charges of aggravated forgery and theft by swindle were dismissed.
Neither Smith nor her attorney could be reached for comment.
Why she took the money is unclear, Deile said. Smith has no known criminal history, he said. She no longer works for the county.
Smith was employed with the county's vital statistics department from January 2008 to October 2010.
Every county is required to offer the $60 discount for a marriage license if the couple take an approved class. When the fee is paid, a county employee enters the applicants' names into a computer to generate a receipt.
At day's end, an accounting would ensure that the number of applicants matched the fees collected, the criminal complaint said. A second employee then entered applicants' full request to create the actual marriage license.
