Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
On the heels of state auditors in New York who claim $5 million in funds is unaccounted for from the books of a volunteer fire company, comes a story about a Kentucky fire district where auditors claim $7.4 million is missing. The allegations involve the beleaguered Southeast Bullitt Fire District, and former Fire Chief Julius Hatfield.
The Southeast Bullitt Fire District first surfaced on the national scene back in September, 2014 when Chief Hatfield was caught on a sheriff’s bodycam video at an accident scene refusing to assist a black motorist saying “We ain’t taking no n—— here.” The district was investigated by the local sheriff’s office, the state auditor, the state fire board and even the FBI. Chief Hatfield resigned in January after a contentious on-air argument with a local reporter, Valerie Chinn of WDRB, where the chief asked her “Do you understand English darling?… Do you understand English?”
The missing $7.4 million was identified by an external audit. Auditors are unsure whether the funds are truly missing or whether the internal controls and documentation are so poor that the funds may have been properly spent but cannot be accounted for. Also a concern is the fact that some of the necessary documentation remains in the hands of investigators, and was not available to auditors.
