In the wake of questions that have been raised and circulated on social media, Carter County Road Superintendent Roger Colbaugh addressed his department’s need for two employees who are classified as “secretaries” in budget documents.

“They are not really secretaries,” Colbaugh said. “They are clerks, and they have different duties.”

While Marketta Peters and Crystal Campbell are both paid out of the “Secretary” line item in the Highway Department’s budget, Colbaugh said he classified their job duties as more clerical and administrative.

“When I first came into office, they were on two separate line items, but Ingrid (Deloach) changed that for the budget and called them secretaries,” Colbaugh said. “It has raised some questions before about why I have two secretaries. Well, I don’t. I don’t really have a secretary, in my opinion.”

During her tenure as Carter County Finance Director, Deloach made the adjustments to keep from having the salaries on separate line items and listed both positions under “secretary,” according to Colbaugh.

Peters’ position was previously called “Administration Supervisor,” Colbaugh said.

Among the many duties of her job, Peters handles all of the department’s personnel and payroll matters, handles insurance and Workman’s Compensation claims, handles official correspondence for the department, conducts purchasing of supplies, and inputs daily work reports into the computer for transmission to the Finance Department and Tennessee Department of Transportation. She also administers the random drug testing policy that is required by federal law due to the nature of the work done by the highway department and the commercial driver’s license required for the drivers.

Campbell works in what the Highway Department refers to as the “Garage Office.”

Among her many job duties, Campbell maintains records on all of the department’s vehicles and other equipment, compiles and maintains records of all the maintenance work performed on the vehicles and equipment, handles purchasing of vehicle and equipment parts, transmits daily work reports for state projects, processes contracts for State Aid project reimbursement for work performed by the department on state roads and bridges. She also monitors fuel use for the department’s gas pumps which service not only highway department vehicles but the Sheriff’s Department vehicles as well, orders fuel and diesel, purchases materials for use in the field such as stone and asphalt, and collects invoices for purchases and bills and prepares them for the Finance Department.

Colbaugh said both Peters and Campbell play rolls in the department’s purchasing because the state requires internal controls that prohibit a single person from being in charge of all aspects of purchasing. Colbaugh said those internal controls require that when one person submits a purchase order, it requires another individual to approve it.