Former Warren County Assessor Wendy (Nordwald) Kozma appeared in Warren County Circuit Court on July 30 for her first hearing on 15 charges of felony theft. Kozma is accused of embezzling at least $23,000 from the Missouri State Assessors Association (MSAA) prior to leaving office in 2020.

Kozma was allowed to drive herself to the hearing last week, after initially being arrested in Polk County, Florida, where she currently lives. The purpose of the hearing was to hold a formal arraignment and negotiate conditions for Kozma to remain out of jail prior to trial. Defense attorney Timothy Hunsaker waived a reading of the charges against Kozma as she seated herself in the rear gallery of the courtroom. Her primary attorney, Scott Rosenblum, was not present.

Hunsaker and Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King each petitioned Judge Nathan Carroz to modify the conditions for Kozma to be released on her own recognizance. King asked for the court to take Kozma’s passport as one of the conditions.  Hunsaker, who had been notified of this request several days prior, had the passport on hand and surrendered it to the court with no objection.

Hunsaker, for his part, asked Judge Carroz to alter one of the bond restrictions placed on Kozma’s initial warrant, which would have required her to remain in Missouri while the case is resolved. Hunsaker said Kozma wished to remain at her home in Florida, where she lives with her current husband and youngest child.

King did not object to the request, saying that the initial release conditions were set by Associate Circuit Judge Richard Scheibe when he issued the warrant for Kozma’s arrest. 

Carroz agreed to allow her to live at home in Florida while the case plays out in court. However, he required her to sign a waiver of extradition hearing to prevent any future roadblocks on returning her to Missouri, and Kozma was also required to complete the booking process at the Warren County Jail.

The former assessor remained in the rear audience seating of the courtroom and didn’t speak during the proceeding. She came forward to sign the extradition waiver at the conclusion, then immediately left, making little eye contact with those present in the courtroom.

Observing the hearing were two members of the Warren County Commission and several members of the public.

The next court hearing for Kozma’s case is set for Sept. 24. Prior to then, the prosecutor’s office will be fulfilling the defense attorneys’ requests to turn over evidence related to the charges, which King described as including a significant amount of material.

Kozma was the Warren County assessor for more than a decade, resigning from her position in 2020 to take work in Florida. She had been serving as the executive director of the Highlands County Habitat For Humanity in Sebring, Fla., according to the agency’s website.

According to investigators with the Missouri highway patrol, Kozma was responsible for overseeing MSAA’s education fund from 2011 to 2020.

In court documents seeking charges against Kozma, investigators say MSAA reviewed records for the group’s education fund after Kozma’s departure and became concerned about suspicious expenditures from the account. Between 2011 and 2020, Kozma allegedly wrote 196 checks to herself from the MSAA fund, exceeding $250,000, according to the Highway Patrol.

The memo line on many of the checks indicated they were written for reimbursement of expenses, the highway patrol said. However, investigators who reviewed Kozma’s personal bank and credit card records allege that they found no expenses that were related to her work with the assessor’s association.

When Kozma became aware of the investigation against her, she allegedly wired over $46,000 back to MSAA and claimed that the situation was a misunderstanding. Investigators quoted her asking that “the dogs be called off” after she returned the funds. She allegedly also provided falsified bank records to the association.