NATCHEZ &8212; Being circuit clerk means running your own small business, only the ultimate boss is the taxpayer.

And your profits are taxpayers&8217; fines and fees.

The county office, along with the chancery clerk&8217;s office, runs unlike any other government arm when it comes to money.

So, in between annual government audits, for the last seven years, M.L. &8220;Binkey&8221; Vines has been the sole keeper of all money that comes into and goes out of his office.

Each spring he&8217;s asked to turn over records of his money, but the rest of the year, no one&8217;s looking.

Vines &8212; who was indicted this week on 13 counts of embezzlement &8212; doesn&8217;t receive a set salary. He is fee paid, meaning he can personally collect a portion of what his office makes, up to $90,000 a year &8212; the state cap.

Some circuit clerks in Mississippi don&8217;t come anywhere near the $90,000 cap, and some make it every year, said Patrick Dendy, branch manager of technical assistance at the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor.

&8220;They do collect a lot of money over the counter in their office,&8221; Dendy said. &8220;If you go in there and sue me and file in the circuit clerk&8217;s office, you pay a fee for that case. (The clerk) collects that fee. There is no such thing as an average (clerk salary).&8221;

Dendy said the fee amount collected in Adams County likely falls somewhere in the middle for the state.

A portion of fee revenues go to the state and to the county. The rest belongs to the clerk.

Neither the state nor the county keeps a tally on how much money enters the circuit clerk&8217;s office in a given year, state Deputy Auditor Rodney Zeagler said.

Fees collected include $75 every time a circuit court case is entered into the docket, $1 every time a subpoena is issued, $5 for entries on court dockets and $6 from marriage licenses.

&8220;There may be thousands of these things a year,&8221; Dendy said.

Plus, the clerk receives fees from things like passports that are not subject to the $90,000 cap.

He also is paid for the days he or his deputies attend court and work during elections.

The board of supervisors gives the clerk $5,000 a year for &8220;public service&8221; fees &8212; the things not specifically covered in other fees, Dendy said.

All of this money goes into an account that works more or less like the clerk&8217;s personal account, Dendy said. Things purchased from the account must be for office use, but only the annual audit monitors the money.

Throughout the year the clerk is required to maintain a fee journal, which is reviewed by the auditor.

In the 2003 Adams County audit, Vines was cited for several journal problems. This week&8217;s indictments are based on 2003 findings.

In a draft of the most recent 2005 audit, Vines is cited for not providing auditors with access to the fee journal.

From the fee account the clerk pays all expenses, including the salaries of deputy clerks.

&8220;It is sort of like a small business in a sense,&8221; Dendy said. &8220;They can hire accounting help, and personnel. The deputies are like personal employees.&8221;

Journals are due to the state on April 15, though they should be available to auditors and the public at any time, Dendy said.

The clerk also collects fines as ordered by circuit court judges. And the clerk&8217;s primary duties are for the circuit court, Dendy said.

Sixth Circuit Judge Lillie Blackmon Sanders said the circuit clerk is essential to what she does.

&8220;He&8217;s our record keeper,&8221; she said. &8220;He plays a vital role in the legal system.&8221;

The clerk&8217;s office keeps evidence being used in trials and assembles and oversees juries. The office keeps track of fines ordered to be paid by the judge and knows whether or not the money has been paid.

&8220;I have to depend on the clerk&8217;s office for information (on fines),&8221; Sanders said.

And as far as Vines work, Sanders said he&8217;s always been effective.

&8220;None of (the indictment) has anything to do with the court,&8221; she said. &8220;Everything that needs to be done gets done. Binkey tries to make people comfortable and handles the jury and public well.

Vines entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment Friday.

A discovery hearing is set for December.

Vines could not be reached for comment.