A legislative audit report has revealed $70,545 in misused taxpayer dollars in the Stone County Sheriff’s Office. According to KATV-TV, the report showed money spent on unaccounted guns and ammunition, and Sheriff Lance Bonds was questioned by Arkansas lawmakers Thursday after the audit revealed “improper and questionable transactions due to a general lack of oversight within the Sheriff’s Office.”
During the hearing, Republican State Senator Trent Garner of El Dorado asked Sheriff Bonds, “How do you miss the extensive amount of purchases, how do you not catch your credit card, how do you not see this coming out of your budget, how do you miss this?” The sheriff said, “I wasn’t watching my budget. I just wasn’t watching. I had a deputy sheriff killed up there, I wasn’t into my job and I trusted my chief deputy too much.”
Bank accounts and selected disbursements were audited from Jan. 1, 2019, through June 4, 2020. The audit reportedly showed $9,939 were spent on guns, accessories, and ammunition unaccounted for. Another $5,790 were spent on items such as a 55″ television set, Oakley sunglasses, body armor, a cooler, an iPhone, and hunting gear. It also revealed $12,033 were spent on items without documented business purposes or proper authorization by the sheriff including tiki torches, an Apple watch, a laptop computer, and an iPad. An additional $2,358 were spent on personal clothing, and $1,269 were spent on groceries and household items.
Sheriff Bonds reportedly appears to have taken responsibility for the lack of oversight. He also highlighted he called the Arkansas State Police to step in after he found out his chief deputy misused taxpayer dollars.
Republican State Senator Missy Irvin of Mountain View was at the committee meeting and says, “I anticipate there are some intense investigations that are going on surrounding the bond payment of $5,000 that was not a refund but just a payment to an inmate, that’s what was shocking.”
The audit also showed $5,700 in drug by funds withdrawn, with $4,750 returned by an employee. The remaining $950 remained unaccounted for at the time.
The chief deputy who misused the money resigned in March 2020 when the red flags started showing during the audit. Sheriff Bonds told lawmakers on Thursday the now-former chief deputy wrote the office a $25,000 check as part of reimbursement, but state police told Bonds not to cash it during this ongoing investigation.
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