The search for possible abusers of Internet time by Barrow County Human Resources Director Norma Jean Brown was requested by Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood.

Brown responded to Commissioner Larry Joe Wilburn’s Nov. 1 memo in which he expresses concerns, among other things, about the county’s insurance and Brown’s overstepping of authority.

Brown indicates Wilburn doesn’t have all the facts as Commission Yearwood told her to get a list of the top 20 Internet users and consult the attorney about possible scenarios for discipline.

Brown said she brought the list to Yearwood, but he decided not to take any action on it.

She asked him to sign the paper, confirming that she had done the task he requested, but he refused to sign it. Wilburn’s statement that Yearwood got upset and asked Brown to leave his office was accurate, Brown confirmed.

In Wilburn’s closing thoughts in the memo, he also said the personnel policy should be updated as soon as possible and "we need to go to an outside source to accomplish this. I do not feel the expertise exists in-house to do this."

Brown responded by saying that she has sent a notice to all commissioners that she will only make changes to the policy when she receives those changes in writing. The policies have already been updated to reflect state and federal rules, she said.

Brown also said she’s been trained and received certifications specifically to handle personnel policy issues.