Five-month public records investigation uncovers wrongdoing by South Carolina sheriffs - Entrepreneur Generations

Almost one in four county sheriffs in South Carolina have been accused (and sometimes convicted) of lawbreaking in the past decade, but a five-month investigation by the Post and Courier in Charleston has uncovered a fresh string of "questionable spending and behavior" from sheriffs all over the state. "South Carolina sheriffs have embezzled, bribed and dipped into public funds for expensive chauffeurs. They’ve driven drunk and bullied other public officials. They’ve been accused of leveraging their power to sexually assault their female employees," Tony Bartelme and Joseph Cranney report.

Reporters dug through more than 5,000 pages of spending records from all 46 counties, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and interviewed criminal justice experts as well as current and former deputies. "Among the findings: some sheriffs spent public money on luxury accommodations, personal clothing and a host of other questionable purchases," Bartelme and Cranney report. "Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood spent thousands to fly first class to conferences. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott used thousands of dollars in campaign funds to join a private club where members dine on beef tenderloin and rack of lamb."

Sheriffs are among the most powerful public officials in many rural counties. In South Carolina, state law gives sheriffs near complete control over firing whistleblowers or employees who won't help out with wrongdoing. The scandals suggest that current laws and power structures helped create "a culture of secrecy that allows wrongdoing to fester", in South Carolina and in other states, Bartelme and Cranney report.

"South Carolina lawmakers have long had the power to create more checks and balances. But decade after decade they’ve stood by as corruption cases piled up," Bartelme and Cranney report. "The result is a system that generates scandals on a regular basis, a status quo that hands sheriffs a license to operate as if they’re above the law."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2UJndaL Five-month public records investigation uncovers wrongdoing by South Carolina sheriffs - Entrepreneur Generations

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