State audit: Cleveland County Sheriff's Office overspent by millions
The long-awaited report, the second part of a special audit requested last year into Sheriff Chris Amason's office, shows that the law enforcement agency did not take steps to stay within the limits of the approved $18.4 million budget, according to the audit.
The audit also showed that during the course of a year, sheriff's leadership attended 24 out-of-state training conferences, bought or leased 40 new vehicles, gave retroactive raises to 28 employees, and used taxpayer funds on "high-end meals, games, and DoorDash service," according to the report. This was despite payroll challenges and cuts to detention staff by 45%, as detailed in the audit.
"The goal of the State Auditor and Inspector is to promote accountability and fiscal integrity in state and localgovernment," said State Auditor Cindy Byrd in a letter to Cleveland County commissioners the day the audit was released. "Maintaining our independence as we provide this service to the taxpayers of Oklahoma is ofutmost importance. We wish to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the assistance and cooperation extended to our office during this engagement."
In a news release, Storme Jones, director of communications for Cleveland County, said that budget board members would carefully review the report and determine what steps to take next in the coming days.
Amason, in a statement posted to his office's Facebook page, said he appreciated Byrd's work "in producing a thorough and well-documented report" that he believes "affirms what we've long maintained — facts matter."
"This balanced assessment brings needed clarity and allows us to close the door on speculation," Amason continued. "We welcome oversight from the State Auditor, because we stand on solid ground. Transparency isn't a challenge to this office — it's a standard we live by. The findings offer valuable clarity about the circumstances and decisions made, and I welcome the opportunity this report provides to reinforce public trust and move forward with purpose."
The audit comes after nearly two years of tension between county commissioners and the sheriff, who publicly disagreed on who was to blame for overspending after commissioners diverted $3.2 million to the sheriff's office in June 2024 in order to pay outstanding bills, payroll and other operational expenses.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Cleveland County OK sheriff overspent budget by $4 million, audit finds
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Gabriel Stengel alexander karnyukhin for forbes Rogo Founders: Tumas Rackaitis, Gabriel Stengel (CEO), John Willett Equity raised: $75 million Estimated 2024 revenue: $2 million Lead investors: AlleyCorp, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital New York City–based Rogo is building a chatbot to help junior bankers with time sucks like crunching numbers, preparing presentations and spreadsheets or doing basic research. Trained on financial datasets from places like Crunchbase and FactSet, the tool is used by some 10,000 busy juniors at firms including Tiger Global to trim hours from their 90-hour workweeks, says Gabriel Stengel, 27. With Rogo automating the gruntwork, bankers will be able to focus on more strategic tasks and building relationships with clients, he adds. 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But when it embraced the 'vibe coding' AI software craze, its product, Bolt, took off. It allows people to build apps just by typing in a description. The company's customer base has surged to 5 million, with the company bringing in 85% of the year's revenue in just four months. John Hu Ethan Pines for Forbes Stan Founders: Vitalii Dodonov, John Hu (CEO) Equity raised: $5 million Estimated 2024 revenue: $25 million Lead investor: Forerunner Ventures Having millions of followers online doesn't immediately translate into a full-time salary. Stan tries to make it easier for those with online fame to cash in on their success with an online storefront linked to their social media profile. Stan, which claims to have achieved profitability after raising just $5 million from Forerunner Ventures back in 2022, provides an easy way for creators to sell their social media followers everything from personalized merch to coaching sessions. (For more, see 'This Startup Helps Creators Sell Classes, Coaching And More To Their Fans.') MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2024 By Amy Feldman Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2023 By Amy Feldman Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2022 By Amy Feldman
