Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Dunn: Give fed $$$ to us, not Sheriff By JOHN MUNFORD jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com A behind-the-scenes power play over money and items the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department receives from drug seizures has a new twist. County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn is insisting that all federally forfeited property be “funneled through the Fayette County Department of Finance,” according to a letter he recently wrote to Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson. Dunn also wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, which administers the federal drug forfeiture program, saying that all property “requested on behalf of the sheriff’s department” to be submitted to county Finance Director Mark Pullium. “This letter is to notify you that, effective immediately, the contact person authorized to receive forfeited property from the Department of Justice has been changed to the Fayette County Director of Finance, Mark Pullium,” Dunn wrote. Currently the Justice Department works directly with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department in providing the seized items and funds. The sheriff’s department operates a drug task force that works local cases in addition to regional cases by cooperating with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. By participating in DEA busts, the sheriff’s department qualifies for the seized money, which must be spent on items such as equipment, supplies and training. The funds cannot be used to pay salaries. Although Dunn states the letter to the U.S. Department of Justice is written “on behalf of the Board of Commissioners of Fayette County,” the matter has not been discussed at any public meeting of the commission nor has a vote been taken on the issue. Dunn was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Dunn’s letter to the Justice Department also refers to the sheriff’s department entering a “Federal Equitable Sharing Agreement.” Sheriff Randall Johnson said there is no such agreement in place. “No agreement ever happened about that drug money because it’s not his,” Johnson said of Dunn’s allegation in the letter. The sheriff declined further comment on the matter. Dunn has previously insisted that he doesn’t want to control the forfeited drug funds, but he wants the funds and property purchased with that money to be fully accounted for. The sheriff’s department made its drug seizure fund purchases available for inspection by Pullium earlier this year who went through stacks of receipts from purchases, officials said.