Cumberland sheriff sues state auditor, saying she exceeded her authority
Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright is suing State Auditor Beth Wood over claims her agency overstepped its authority when it sought to investigate the sheriff’s office.
The case raises questions about who the auditor’s office is authorized to investigate and what information it has access to. It comes at a time when lawmakers are proposing changes to force the auditor to turn over more information about findings that may involve criminal conduct.
Wright claims Wood didn’t have the jurisdiction to investigate his office, that she falsely claimed that she did, and that she should have known better.
In a hearing Tuesday in Cumberland County, the auditor's office argued for a change of venue for the lawsuit. The judge is expected to rule on that request in the next week or so.
A representative of the auditor's office declined to comment.
Wright is asking the court to declare Wood exceeded her authority and breached her oath. He also wants a judge to invalidate a subpoena he received.
The dispute began in October, when members of the auditor's office informed Wright of its intent to conduct an investigation of the sheriff's office, according to the 43-page lawsuit, which was filed in May in Cumberland County Superior Court.
Wright claims the auditor's office repeatedly declined to disclose the intent of the investigation, including whether it sought to probe potentially criminal activity.
The auditor's office requested and received records that the sheriff's office determined were public records and releasable to anyone, according to the complaint. However, the sheriff refused to turn over other records which he deemed are protected under state law, the suit says.
The two sides went back and forth for months. In March, the auditor's office subpoenaed the sheriff, asking him to turn over the personnel file of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Mark Rowden, as well as documents related to a citation, documents related to improvements at the county shooting range, according to the lawsuit. The auditor’s office also requested the ability to interview all employees of the county’s crime scene investigative unit.
In response, the sheriff's office raised concerns about the auditor's authority to investigate the local agency, while also noting the auditor continued to withhold the nature of the investigation, the complaint says.
Ronnie Mitchell, a lawyer for the sheriff’s office, said Ennis chose to sue because he thought Wood’s office was exceeding its authority. He declined to elaborate beyond what was in the lawsuit.
Rowden didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mitchell said the sheriff’s office reviewed Rowden’s file and found nothing that raised suspicion, including any connection to the other records requested by the auditor’s office.
Under state law, the auditor has the authority to investigate state agencies, as well as other agencies if there's reason to believe state money was misused. If the state auditor has evidence of a potential crime, the office is required to inform the district attorney in the county where the agency exists or the State Bureau of Investigation.
According to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, neither was contacted as part of the auditor's investigation.
The investigative practices of the state auditor’s office have come under scrutiny by state lawmakers in recent months.
Earlier this year, lawmakers filed a bill seeking to make it easier for law enforcement to lay hands on the state auditor’s internal files.
Senate Bill 80 is meant to aid criminal prosecutions that start out as audits, and it removes some of the elected state auditor’s ability to withhold information.
The bill, which passed the Senate in April, has stalled in the House.
