Pubdate: Thu, 11 Feb 2010
Source: Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
Copyright: 2010 Asheville Citizen-Times
Contact: http://www.citizen-times.com/contact/letters.shtml
Website: http://www.citizen-times.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/863
Author: Jon Ostendorff
Cited: Sheriff Jimmy Ashe http://sheriff.jacksonnc.org/
Referenced: Jackson Sheriff Drug Hauls Aid Youth Sports 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n097/a14.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

STATE ASKS JACKSON CO. TO TIGHTEN DRUG TAX SPENDING

SYLVA - The Department of State Treasurer asked Jackson County to 
take better control over spending money that came from taxing drug dealers.

Responding to an article Sunday in the Citizen-Times, state Fiscal 
Management Section Director Sharon Edmundson said in a letter that 
two county officials should sign off on checks from the narcotics fund.

Sheriff Jimmy Ashe since 2007 has directed $10,588 to sports 
programs, trophies, booster clubs and a high school chorus, according 
to documents obtained by the newspaper under state public records law.

The sheriff often spent the money with no oversight. In one case he 
directed $3,000 to youth baseball teams - including a team on which 
his son played.

The N.C. Department of Justice in a memo to sheriffs said the drug 
tax money is intended to help law enforcement "deter and investigate 
crimes, especially drug offenses."

Ashe said he directed the spending in response to personal, sometimes 
unwritten requests from people in the community. His captain over 
investigations signed the checks.

The money came from supplies and equipment accounts within the 
Sheriff's Office budget and was later reimbursed through its narcotics fund.

Sheriffs and police get 75 percent of taxes collected from drug 
dealers in the cases they investigate.

The county finance office, which is charged with keeping track of 
government spending, didn't have oversight in giving to youth sports 
teams. The office didn't see the expenditures until after the checks cleared.

Ashe, a Democrat in his second term, said he wanted to keep children 
from using drugs by giving them something constructive to do. He 
could not be reached Wednesday.

County audits found no wrongdoing.

Edmundson in the letter to County Manager Kenneth Westmoreland said 
the county had been allowing one person, who wasn't a duly appointed 
finance or deputy finance officer, to sign checks.

"We recommend that the checks used to disburse these funds be signed 
by two county employees or officials authorized to sign checks and 
duly appointed by the board (of commissioners) to serve in that 
capacity," she told Westmoreland.

Westmoreland on Wednesday did not respond to questions from the 
Citizen-Times but said he would comment today.

Edmundson also said in the letter that the county should "consider 
the payroll implications of the sheriff's personal use of a seized motorcycle."

"Personal use of anything other than a clearly marked public safety 
vehicle or the clearly authorized use of an unmarked vehicle is 
generally a taxable benefit to an employee," she wrote.

Ashe has said he used a 2003 Harley-Davidson seized in a federal drug 
case for official business, including driving to and from work. It 
was used in some undercover drug operations and two charity rides, he said.

The sheriff said he used the motorcycle, in part, to evaluate whether 
motorcycles would be useful for patrol officers. The mountainous 
terrain and cold winters convinced him they would not be.

He parked the bike in his basement during the winter. The county 
later sold the motorcycle.

Heather Franco, a spokeswoman for the treasurer's office, said it's 
not unusual for the state to send a letter to a county about internal 
financial controls.

She said the N.C. Local Government Commission would reject the 
county's next audit if it doesn't make the changes. That would make 
it hard for the county to borrow money.

The county must respond to the state in writing, according to the letter.

"At this time, it is fully expected that Jackson County will amend 
their procedures and comply with the statutes," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake