Passport fees were largely taken as personal income but also regularly donated to the county in the past practice of the Clerk of Courts, according to handwritten ledgers kept by the former Clerk and made available by the current Clerk. About $433,587 was reportedly collected in passport fees over 16 years from 1992, when the Rockdale County Clerk of Courts office started processing passports, until 2008, when longtime Clerk of Courts Joanne Caldwell retired. About 73 percent of that total, or approximately $315,040, was withdrawn in 88 checks reportedly written to Caldwell, a practice