(The Center Square) – Rhea County's sheriff directed employees from his department to work in private businesses owned by the sheriff and his son, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office said in a report released Thursday.
The report also said questionable expenditures were made from the Rhea County Angel Tree Toy Drive overseen by department employees, and three deputies were paid for hours they did not work.
“The Rhea County sheriff must hold employees accountable for the pervasive issues in his department’s operations,” said Comptroller Jason Mumpower. “Not only did employees violate the department’s policies and procedures, but some of these violations also benefited the sheriff and others at the expense of the department."
The sheriff had a former bookkeeper and the administrator of the Rhea County Animal Shelter work for the sheriff's trucking and farming business, according to the report. The bookkeeper said she wasn't paid for the work, but the sheriff gave her days off without using her county leave balance.
"In an interview with investigators, the former bookkeeper also said that on at least one occasion, she bussed tables at the Dayton Boat Dock, a business owned by the sheriff’s son, on county time," the report said. "The former bookkeeper stated that prior to her resignation in 2021, she slowly transferred bookkeeping responsibilities for the sheriff’s personal businesses to the shelter administrator."
The report accuses the sheriff's office of assigning inmates to work at the private boat dock owned by the sheriff's son. Other inmates are accused of working in plain clothes at the animal shelter.
The sheriff's department also improperly released inmates from the jail, according to the comptroller's office. A court officer set a $7,500 bond for one of the inmates, but the sheriff agreed to release them on their signature. The inmate failed to appear in court at least three times, the report said. The court set a $45,000 bond for the inmate after one of the rearrests. The sheriff released the inmate again, this time to a private citizen, without the court's permission, according to the report.
The comptroller's office scrutinized more than $12,000 in expenditures from the toy drive. Two were alcohol-related, including a bottle of Jägermeister and two whiskey glasses.
"The whisky glasses were purchased using a toy drive bank account debit card," the report says. "The receipts show the alcohol was purchased with cash, but department employees did not provide investigators with the applicable bank statement to determine whether toy drive funds were used to purchase the alcohol."
The report questions if work was performed in relation to more than $20,000 paid to three employees. More than half of the time was paid to a former road patrol sergeant.
"Between the end of March 2020 and the beginning of July 2020, the former road sergeant was dispatched in to work for the department for only five hours ... but he continued to receive full pay without using leave," the report said. "Investigators noted missing timesheets for the former road patrol sergeant for the period March 16, 2020, through July 10, 2020."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation worked with the comptroller's office on the report, which covers Jan. 1, 2017, through May 31, 2024. The findings were turned over to the Office of the District Attorney General of the 6th Judicial District.
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting response to a phone message left with the Rhea County Sheriff's Department.
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