County Commissioner Tim Boyd said Wednesday he had learned that the county may have overpaid some magistrates in the past, and he said he wanted to know who authorized it.
Officials said the new chief magistrate, Lorrie Miller, had found the alleged discrepancy.
Commissioners said one of the payouts at issue is $26,000 to the former chief magistrate, Randy Russell.
Attorney Russell said no one had raised any issue with him about any payouts.
He said magistrates over the years had been able to build up paid leave time. He said if a magistrate had a sickness or took excessive time off that would decrease the amount in the paid leave time fund.
Attorney Russell said at the end of a magistrate's service, they have gotten any accrued amount in their paid leave time.
He said the amount he received was around $26,000.
His payout was calculated exactly as with prior magistrates who left, he said.
Commission Chairman Randy Fairchild said he understood the issue has to do with "some miscalculation that was made back in 2013."
He said he was contacted by officials in county Human Resources, who said, "We've overpaid." He said the issue was whether the county should seek to recover any money allegedly overpaid.
Vice Chairman Sabrena Smedley said she had been advised of the situation and concluded the amount involved might not be worth pursuing.
It was decided to have the full commission next Wednesday to vote on whether the county should pursue the collection of any alleged over payment.