Beth Wood, the embattled state auditor who was charged this week with using publicly owned vehicles for personal errands, will resign before the end of her term, she told WRAL News Thursday.

The decision caps a stunning yearlong fall for the Democrat who has earned bipartisan support for her work as a government watchdog, ensuring public resources are used appropriately over four terms.

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In a statement supplied by her lawyer, Wood said she would step down on Dec. 15 after 30 years of service to the state. “I made this decision because we have such a great team doing incredibly important work and I don't want to be a distraction,” she said in the statement. “It has been an honor and privilege to work with such a talented staff and to serve the citizens of this great state.”

Wood was charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor after an eight-month probe by the State Bureau of Investigation found that she used at least one state-owned vehicle for private purposes in 2021 and 2022, including traveling back and forth to regularly scheduled hair appointments and dental appointments.

She also traveled to shopping centers and spas “where she was not engaged in business in her official capacity,” according to an indictment handed down Tuesday by a Wake County grand jury. An investigation is ongoing.

Wood’s driving habits and state-vehicle use came under scrutiny following the Dec. 8 incident in which Wood crashed a state-issued Toyota sedan into a parked car in downtown Raleigh. Wood was charged in that incident. The state then suspended her vehicle assignment as police investigated the crash. After the suspension was issued, she used a separate state vehicle for personal trips, according to an affidavit.

In a statement Tuesday, Wood said she reimbursed the state on a monthly basis for use of a state vehicle that was permanently assigned to her. “I purposely overpaid for my commuting miles to make certain it covered any personal use over and above commuting,” she said.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said her office still plans to prosecute the case and the charges remain pending. She declined to discuss possible plea negotiations, citing professional conduct rules.

Wood, who is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 4, announced last week that she wouldn’t seek a fifth term as state auditor. She told legislators during a Nov. 1 public oversight hearing, noting at the time that she didn't plan on leaving office until the end of her term in January 2025.

“There are some circumstances that are in my life,” Wood told the House Oversight Committee, which was meeting as part of an inquiry into the state unemployment office. “And I recognize four years from now I will be 74 years old. So if there are some things I want to do. I need to get them done now.”

It's up to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to pick a new auditor to replace Wood, according to the state constitution. Whoever he picks will serve until voters select who they want to take over the office, which is up for election in 2024. Asked about it Thursday, before the news became official, Cooper declined to comment.

“The governor respects her decision and thanked her for her years of service to North Carolina,” Cooper spokesman Jordan Monaghan said in a statement later in the day. “Our office will have more information about the appointment process for this position in the coming days.”

Wood told WRAL in an interview last week that she wants to start a second career on the public speaking circuit.

Scrutiny on driving

The state auditor’s job is to make sure government programs are using their resources as efficiently as possible while complying with state and federal regulations.

In 2019 Wood took the state's Motor Fleet Management Division to task for failing to keep a close enough eye on vehicle usage, reporting in audit that 61 of the state's then 7,688 permanently assigned vehicles were assigned to people no longer employed by the state. Seven were assigned to employees without a valid North Carolina drivers license, the report said.

That audit also criticized the state's Motor Fleet Management division for failing to ensure state agencies complied with commuter requirements. The report laid out several examples of unauthorized commuting and recommended that the state take a tighter rein on the issue. Among other things, the audit complained that the state wasn't conducting periodic inspections of vehicle assignments or going over travel logs to identify misuse.

In the months after news of the Dec. 8 hit-and-run came to light, questions about Wood’s compliance with state policies arose.

Wood was charged Dec. 12 with misdemeanor hit-and-run resulting in property damage after the crash. She pleaded guilty to the charge in March. She said at the time of her conviction that she had been attending a holiday gathering before the crash. She said she had consumed two glasses of wine at the party but was not impaired at the time of the crash. State employees are prohibited from driving a state-owned vehicle while under the influence of any alcohol.

In January, as police investigated the incident, the state division that manages state-owned cars suspended Wood’s vehicle assignment. The next month, she was notified by the Motor Fleet Management division of a possible state policy violation for commuting in an agency-issued car.

State employees who are issued cars are allowed to use the vehicles to commute under certain conditions. But commuting isn’t permitted in cars that are assigned to agencies, Robert Riddle, the director of the motor fleet division, told Wood in a Feb. 3 letter.

The February motor fleet letter added support to details in travel logs that had previously been obtained by WRAL News. Wood logged miles in a state-owned Toyota Camry starting as early as Dec. 12 — the day she was charged following the Dec. 8 crash that put her state-issued car out of commission, documents show.

The logs indicated that the car was used to get to speaking engagements, home, the office, doctor’s appointments, church on a Sunday and other destinations. Most of the entries appeared to be filled out, signed or initialed by Wood. One page of the logs, detailing use from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, listed Wood as the driver.

Signatures, handwriting and other details on the logs, such as destinations and addresses, indicated that Wood regularly logged miles in the undamaged car through the end of January, including on Jan. 24 — the day Riddle notified Wood that the division had temporarily revoked the crashed car. Riddle didn’t prohibit Wood from driving state-owned cars at the time, but he did discourage her from doing so.

The affidavit obtained by WRAL News on Tuesday indicated that Wood traveled frequently to Blue Water Spa, a Raleigh business that specializes in hair removal, skin tightening and other skin-care services. The SBI sought payment records and other documentation related to that business to support its investigation.

State employees who are assigned state-owned vehicles are expected to abide by rules and regulations outlined by the motor fleet management division. “The same rules and regulations apply to all drivers of state-owned vehicles regardless of the employee’s position,” the state Department of Administration, which oversees the motor fleet, said in an email in January.

Wood's legacy

In a statement issued last week announcing her decision not to seek a fifth term, Wood said: “I know that I have made mistakes along the way, but I have acknowledged them and have learned from them.”

Wood became the first woman to hold the state auditor’s position in 2009 after working in the office and defeating her boss in an election. Until the news of her wreck emerged, she enjoyed one of the best reputations in state government — frequently drawing praise from across the political aisle.

After news of the crash broke, Wood dodged questions about the charge — an approach that surprised some political observers who had come to know her as a champion of government transparency. It took Wood more than a month to answer questions about the crash. By the time she did, some public support for her had dwindled. Despite support from some Republican members of the Council of State, the North Carolina Republican Party called on her to resign.

The auditor’s office reviews the financial operations and regulatory processes of more than 30 state agencies, municipalities, as well as its public universities and community colleges. State law gives the auditor broad powers to examine the records of those places, and gives her the power to summon people to answer questions under oath.

Wood ultimately paid about $7,700 in out-of-pocket funds to cover repairs and towing related to the crash.

Wood's resignation creates an opening for Democrat Luis Toledo, who ran for the position in 2020. Toledo, an assistant state auditor, recently announced he's running for the seat. At least five Republicans have also announced that they would seek the office in 2024.

“As I see this situation unfold it is clear Auditor Wood is being held accountable for her actions, and that’s how accountability should work,” Toledo said in a statement. “Based on this investigation it is clear the vehicle oversight process is not working as it should, and I’m running for state auditor to address high-risk issues in the state and gaps in oversight.”

WRAL state government reporters Travis Fain and Will Doran contributed to this report.

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