For decades, Richmond County sheriffs have collected and spent thousands of dollars of public money in a way that violates state law, according to an investigation by The Augusta Chronicle.
It’s called the sheriff’s benevolent fund, but most of it is funded by unauthorized fees billed for deputies’ funeral escorts and goes unscrutinized by county officials or state auditors. The fees and expenses run into the thousands each year.
Last year, for example, Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength spent more than $2,000 sponsoring golf tournaments, Little League baseball, charity softball teams and a bass tournament. He spent $3,000 on watches for retirees, $4,000 on flowers for the sick and grieving and more than $12,000 on Christmas parties for his officers and staff.
It wasn’t a secret, but it also wasn’t approved by the Augusta Commission.
By most accounts, the fee has been around since the late 1970s, and the fund has been used to benefit sheriff’s deputies and the community, but both its existence and its source of revenue appear to break the very law the sheriff is sworn to uphold.
via Richmond County Sheriff’s Office benevolent fund violates law | The Augusta Chronicle.
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