State auditor: Johnston sheriff violated policy purchasing $262,000 in cars, gas masks

The Johnston County Sheriff's Office purchased $262,000 worth of vehicles and gas masks without obtaining the required written quotes, a violation of the county's policy, according to the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor.

The items totaled $262,009 and included seven cars (totaling $250,049) and 40 gas masks (totaling $11,960), according to a document released by the state auditor. The most expensive vehicle was a 2019 Chevrolet Tahoe purchased for $48,200.

To determine items are bought at a fair price, the Johnston County Purchasing Policy requires that at least three written quotes be obtained for any purchase over $7,500.

The document indicated that the sheriff's office potentially overpaid for the items by not obtaining the required quotes.

Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell responded, saying he violated policy because he considered the purchases to be emergency purchases. He also said he wanted to purchase the items locally and researched the prices of the items before buying them.

According to the report, Bizzell did not have documentation of his research for the auditor's office and said he did not keep any documentation because “if I can’t be trusted as the sheriff, who can you trust?”

The items were purchased between January 2019 and April 2020, according to the report. Bizzell said he considered the vehicles emergency purchases because of a deadline.

According to the auditor's report, "the deadline had passed to order the three 2020 Chevrolet Tahoes directly from the factory when the sheriff’s office decided to buy them ... and a local dealership had to locate the vehicles on other dealer lots in order to fill the sheriff’s office’s order. According to the sheriff, he considered it an emergency, because it was 'impossible to order these vehicles.'"

The gas masks were purchased in January 2019 during a period of “rioting and civil unrest," Bizzell said when explaining why those were considered an emergency.

Johnston County Attorney Jennifer Slusser and the sheriff's office both responded to the auditor's report.

Slusser acknowledged the findings and said she believes Bizzell was acting in "good faith seeking to save taxpayer money while obtaining vehicles and equipment necessary to serve the citizens of Johnston County."

Still, Slusser said the county will make sure recommendations and guidelines provided by the state auditor are met, including: