Sheriff Says State Audit Is A Vendetta Against Greene County
Greene County Sheriff Joe Benison has used local Greene County in Eutaw media to respond to allegations made by the Alabama State Auditor's Office that his office owes almost $5 million in poorly documented bingo funds and staff salaries. The alleged shortage was discovered by a mandatory state audit.
Sheriff Benison sent a statement to the Greene County Democrat in which he claimed the results of the audit are part of a continuing vendetta against him and the county by state government.
“It is regrettable that, in the face of documentation justifying the millions of dollars of expenditures made to improve the lives of the citizens of Greene County, the vendetta of the forces in Montgomery continues. Less than a year ago, the litigation waged by the Attorney General for seven years ended with the reaffirmation of my role under the Constitution as the sole regulator of bingo in Greene County.
Now, here we go again: The Examiners of Public Accounts have now issued a report questioning the expenditure of money for, among other things, the scholarships paid to every Greene County high school senior and the payments made to the deputies who protect and serve our county. They should be ashamed. I didn’t back down when they sued me, and I won’t back down now.”
As Tuscaloosa Thread first reported on October 3rd, the audit found that Sheriff Jonathan Benison's office did not have adequate supporting documentation for over $3.1 million in payments from the "Bingo Fund" to employees beyond their regular salaries.
Auditors identified several bookkeeping issues, including a failure to make timely bank deposits and a lack of records for pistol permit fees.
Findings of the audit are being turned over to the 17th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rachel England and Attorney General Steve Marshall’s offices for collection.