With few of her employees holding any strong objections about doing so, Yellowstone County Treasurer Sherry Long will move forward to conduct background checks of all her employees so that they will be able to continue to access the state’s computer system.
Deputy County Attorney Kevin Gillen reported to other county officials last week that the county has little choice but to do so. “We don’t have any latitude,” said Gillen, “It’s not a county policy. We have no choice but to ramp up and follow through.”
In October, the state Department of Justice (DOJ) informed county treasurers, including Long, that all of her employees must undergo a background check in order to have access to the state’s computer system that processes all of the state’s data – a program called Merlin.
The mandate poses a dilemma for the county since none of those employees were hired with that as a requirement. In the future it will be a condition of employment.
