Two new state audits show massive spending and oversight issues at separate government entities.
The Greene County sheriff improperly spent nearly $5 million from a bingo license fund and a former employee at the state’s motorsports museum should pay back $236,600 in misspent funds, among other issues at the attraction, according to separate reports from the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
The audits have been sent to the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
Greene County Sheriff
An audit says Greene County Sheriff Jonathan Benison needs to repay about $4.9 million he spent, most of it from a bingo licensee fund, on unallowable expenses, including $3.1 million paid to employees outside of their normal salaries and $1.1 million paid to consultants and attorneys. Additional money was spent on payments to merchants, individuals, restaurants, hotels, automotive repair shops, gas stations and grocery stores.
The audit covered about 5.5 years starting in October 2018.
“The sheriff did not establish procedures to ensure that disbursements were made in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and to ensure that documentation was maintained to support all disbursements,” the audit says.
The Bingo Fund is one of about a dozen the sheriff manages. Others include multiple inmate feeding funds and a process server fund.
A state constitutional amendment allows non-profit organizations in Greene County to operate bingo games. The sheriff is responsible for licensing and promulgating the rules and regulations for such operations, according to the examiners’ report. The Bingo Fund is where license fees are collected.
The audit found a total of five issues of noncompliance with state laws and regulations, including not reconciling bank accounts monthly and a lack of controls for collecting and safeguarding money. Most of them were also listed in 2014 and 2018 audits. Benison is in his fourth term as sheriff.
He did not return a call from Alabama Daily News to his office on Friday.
Motor Sports Hall of Fame Commission
The audit of the Motorsports Hall of Fame Commission, the group responsible for the Talladega museum, found a remarkable 35 issues, including alleged misspending by former accounts manager Karen Lakey.
The $236,600 includes $74,541 in payments made to creditors not related to the commission, about $22,500 in checks written to cash or cash withdrawn from commission accounts, and more than $40,000 paid to the former account manager’s family members.
Last month, commission chairman Gerald Dial released a statement blaming the former employee, who he said worked for the commission about two years on a contract basis, for issues found in the pending audit and for stealing from the museum.
The commission received $250,000 in this year’s state General Fund budget.
On Friday, Dial, a former state senator, said he trusted someone he shouldn’t have.
“This is no other commission member’s fault but mine,” Dial, who’s been involved with the museum for about 40 years, told Alabama Daily News. He also said the commission never had an audit comparable to this one.
It covered October 2019 through September 2024. It also found:
-Commission money was improperly deposited into the personal account of a commission member;
-The commission failed to maintain a listing of historic vehicles and memorabilia in its possession;
-The commission did not keep proper meeting minutes to document all official actions of the commission;
-The commission did not have proper controls over cash receipts and deposits;
-The commission failed to comply with the Alabama Open Meetings Act;
-The commission operates a gift shop on site and failed to collect and remit sales tax from gift shop sales to the Alabama Department of Revenue;
-The commission’s general ledger was not an appropriate reflection of the commission’s financial activity.
The report also raised issues with how the commission sold some of its cars, including some that had been donated under the condition they not be sold for non education purposes.
The museum’s former executive director purchased a 1968 Camaro Convertible Pace Car from the commission for $15,000 after the commission had spent more than $22,000 on repairs to the car. The spouse of the former executive director purchased a 1998 F-150 from the commission for $1,000.
“Audits like this highlight why proper adequate oversight both on a daily and more long-term basis is so important,” Chief Examiner Rachel Riddle told ADN. “Many of the issues reported in the audit could have been prevented with the right people implementing proper internal controls. Our office constantly emphasizes the importance of such in governmental entities. While proper controls and oversight will not always prevent fraud, it’s a fundamental step towards deterring it.
Earlier this year, the executive director of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame was terminated and asked to repay nearly $65,000 in misspent funds following an examiners’ audit.
That report found 29 significant issues at the museum and tourist attraction in Tuscumbia, including thousands spent on travel and meals, an improperly awarded bonus and other matters of noncompliance with state laws.
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