![]() ![]() The sheriff has an evidence room in the county courthouse.ĭickinson County Commission Chairman Lynn Peterson believes people were satisfied then with the sheriff’s leadership and notes that it was the sheriff’s office “that uncovered the fact that money was missing and started gathering information.”īut in May 2018, nearly a year after the sheriff’s office sought KBI help, Purvis asked the state agency to investigate “possible evidence destruction and interference with law enforcement” by Hoffman or his employees. ![]() The KBI said that the sheriff’s office asked it in late May 2017 to investigate the $72,000 missing from its property room. The officer later pleaded guilty to felony theft in a case that has prompted questions about how Hoffman ran the department. “One deputy was advised by commanding officers that he would be fired if he spoke about a theft,” the KBI officials said.Īny picture of what happened is clouded by separate allegations in early 2017 that a lieutenant improperly borrowed $25,760 over 4 1/2 years, most of it from a property room in the basement the county attorney’s office building. Thompson and Graham said officers wouldn’t help the KBI if they knew their statements would become public. They were defending the KBI’s refusal to release records five months after the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle’s parent company sued for disclosure. Some details emerged when a lawsuit forced KBI Director Kirk Thompson and General Counsel Laura Graham to answer questions in writing in late February. Possible phone numbers for them weren’t answered. The local prosecutor, Andrea Purvis, didn’t respond to interview requests or emailed questions.įormer Sheriff Gareth Hoffman and his undersheriff didn’t respond to social media or email messages. Current Sheriff Jerry Davis cited the KBI’s inquiries in declining to answer most questions. ![]()
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