Local Radar

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Probate Court computers integrity reportedly jeopardized by "an administrator"

Updates possibly allowed by unknown remote computer

web posted July 7, 2006

EDGEFIELD – Shortly before the June Primary Elections Administrator Wayne Adams wrote a May 24, 2006 memo to the Probate Court advising Judge Peeler that internet connection for the Probate Court was being disconnected. According to the memo, this was due to two state officials, Donna Royson, of the South Carolina Election Commission, and Gary Price, of the South Carolina Chief Information Office claiming, “activity generated by your computer was endangering our state-provided internet connection.” Mr. Adams sent the memo to every department head in the county government.

EdgefieldDaily.com spoke with Donna Royson and was told she made no such demand. Mr. Price was unable to be reached and never returned our calls for comment. However, both offices contacted requested EdgefieldDaily.com fax a copy of the memo to their offices, which we did.

Several attempts by Administrator Adams to seize the computer or have access to it were denied by the Probate Court over the next few weeks. The computer was disconnected and locked in the Clerk of Court’s Office until after the election by Judge Peeler.

After the election, Edgefield County Councilman Willie Bright brought in an independent computer expert to investigate the contents of Judge Peeler’s computer with the permission of the judge. With Councilman Bright and a representative of the Probate Court present the expert found several intentional manipulations of the computer by “an administrator”. Judge Peeler, it was also discovered, was not the administrator of the computers in his office. That designation was placed on the County Administrator, Wayne Adams.

According to a report of the findings, “The update option on this machine shows that it has been disabled by an administrator. This could mean that updates are being done from another, remote, computer.”

Other computer experts contacted by EdgefieldDaily.com said that the administrator of a computer could allow a user, with access powers, to add, delete, or allow malicious programming or content to be added to the computer and make it appear the owner of the computer was responsible, without the owner’s knowledge.

Information provided by the Probate Court states Mr. Adams has always had the control over the administrative features of the courts computers.

The timing of the latest attempted seizure of the Probate Judge’s computer by Adams, just two weeks before the election, has raised the ire of some county officials and many political observers. The Edgefield County Council, and more explicitly the county administrator, has no authority over other elected officials, their offices, employees, or internal workings of their office.

The county computer IT service provider is Pronet Professional of Augusta Georgia. Their continued contract was renewed with a vote of the County Council on September 6, 2005. According to the agenda provided by the County Council, the packages for IT services out for bid had four companies bidding on the contract with Pronet Professional’s bid being $17,400, Smith Data at $12,750, A3 Communications at $14,400, and Simple PC at $21,000. Administrator Adams told the Council that Pronet was the low bidder and the vote was to approve the contract despite the fact that two companies offered the services at a lower rate. No totals were provided to the council at the meeting.

The County Council acted upon the word of County Administrator Wayne Adams.

At least two county council members have expressed concern upon learning that the information provided by the administrator at the September 6, 2005 meeting was inaccurate.

The discovery of Administrator Adams being the administrator of the Probate Court’s computers and the ability to place information on the computers has some county residents questioning the previous seizure of an elected official’s computer by Administrator Adams.

When Councilman Willie Bright and Judge Peeler had an independent expert examine the computer, “an administrator,” had shut of all protection to the computer which allowed “4,772 spyware programs” and over “27,000 infected files” to be placed on the Probate Court Judge’s computer without his knowledge the report showed.

 

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