Commission seeks outside review after discovery of missing items from county storage

Sheriff Tony Helms told the commission that when missing items were discovered he contacted the State Bureau of Investigation and that the matter is currently under investigation. "Once it was discovered items were missing, he contacted the State Bureau of Investigations, and the matter is currently under investigation," the minutes record.

Commissioners pressed the sheriff for details about where the items had been stored and whether they were county property; Commissioner Jeff Hatcher said the commission needs an inventory and a copy of the Sheriff's Office standard operating procedures. Commissioner Weston Spivey also raised concerns about county-owned vehicles being used outside the jurisdiction and about prior municipal issues in Samson. Spivey moved that County Attorney Phil Eldridge draft a formal request to ALEA, the Attorney General's Office, the Alabama Ethics Commission and/or the Department of Examiners asking for a procedural review and audit of all evidence held by the Geneva County Sheriff's Department; Commissioner Hatcher seconded and the motion passed 4-0. The motion requests a formal procedural review and audit; commissioners directed staff to obtain a complete inventory and SOP from the Sheriff's Office for their review.