AUDIO ALERT: Jefferson County 911 Dispatcher Shares Her Despair About No Paycheck

Pregnant and scared, she won't be at work on Wednesday.

Debra Strickland Allen with First Ward Living Grace Food Pantry tells county employees they won't go hungry.

Jefferson County employees are worried about how they will pay bills and feed their families.

County Judge Gerald Robinson did not approve the county payroll by April 30 because of an ongoing debate over the status of two employees — one, who has worked for the county for 48 years, for using unapproved sick leave and another one, who has worked for the county since 2016. Robinson implies that employee has a nepotism issue because her mother is the county assessor and works in the same office. The amount of money that is in dispute is just shy of $5,000.