Globe: Department of Social Services investigating Rita Hunter

Veteran Joplin Globe reporter Susan Redden has shined in recent months with her continued coverage, including scoop after scoop, of the controversies surrounding former Jasper County Public Administrator Rita Hunter. In today's edition, Ms. Redden reveals the state's Department of Social Services has begun an investigation into Mrs. Hunter's conduct:

The probe by the state department’s Division of Legal Services started recently, according to Arleasha Mays, department spokeswoman.

“They are in the initial stages of an investigation, but there will be no details until it is complete,” Mays said.

Hunter, who served one term, left office at the end of the year. An investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, under the direction of the Missouri attorney general’s office, also is under way. Financial records of the office are being audited as part of the investigation.

State officials will not answer questions about what elements of the administrator’s office are being probed. Mays said the division’s legal services unit “investigates everything from welfare fraud, to abuse involving MoHealthNet and fraud and abuse in general, and provides legal support to all our programs.”

The article includes a recap of the information Ms. Redden uncovered for previous articles.