Scotland Crimestoppers asks commissioners to restore $1,000 annual county support; commissioners seek legal review

Representatives of Scotland Crimestoppers asked the Scotland County Board of Commissioners June 2 to restore a prior $1,000 annual contribution the county provided to the nonprofit, which uses donated funds to pay anonymous tip rewards, buy equipment and maintain a tip-reporting app.

Assistant Police Chief Chris Young, who coordinates Scotland Crimestoppers, described the program as a 501(c)(3) run by community volunteers that has contributed to arrests, recovered stolen property and removed weapons from the street. Young said the program is 100% anonymous to tipsters, and that reward payments and program costs are paid from donations and fundraising. "That's the reason I'm here. In 2022, commissioners actually gave a thousand dollars per year towards this program as well as the city," Young said, asking the board to return that commitment to the nonprofit’s operating budget.

Commissioners expressed general support for the program’s public-safety impact but raised legal questions about the expenditure of public funds to a private nonprofit. One commissioner cited new-commissioner training guidance that public funds can typically be granted to a nonprofit only for services the county is authorized to provide or when specific statutory authority exists. The board asked the county attorney to research relevant law and to advise whether a county appropriation to Scotland Crimestoppers would be permissible; one commissioner offered to make a personal donation in the meantime if the nonprofit faced a funding shortfall.

Young said the nonprofit had paid more than $10,000 in rewards since inception, recovered roughly $66,000 in stolen property and confiscated 49 weapons, and that its mobile app (Navigate360) had increased tip submissions.

The commissioners did not approve county funding at the meeting; they directed staff to research legal constraints and return with a recommendation.