East Central Reporter

In Shelby County, concerns have been raised about the proper handling of funds donated to the Dive Team over the past few years. The question at hand is whether these donations were deposited into an appropriate Shelby County government account.

Several months ago, the Shelby County Board initiated a forensic audit of the dive team's finances. This move seems to be prompted by an ongoing investigation into potential mismanagement of donated funds.

During a county committee meeting, former Dive Team member Mark Shanks voiced his opposition to a forensic audit. He suggested an internal audit instead and was evidently against any form of auditing.

Following the dissolution of the Dive Team last year, efforts were made to inventory items in their storage shed. During this process, a cash box containing over $1,500 and numerous receipts was discovered. This cash box is currently held as evidence at the Sheriff’s office. It remains unclear why these funds were not in possession of the county treasurer.

The new State’s Attorney, Ruth Woolery, will need to take legal action to transfer these funds to the Treasurer's office.

Further investigation revealed that checks made payable to the Shelby County Dive team were being deposited into an unauthorized account. Upon discovering this violation of banking laws, a demand was issued for the return of these funds. Consequently, a certified check amounting to $24,703.94 was issued back to the county.

Questions are now being asked about why these donations were not deposited into the county treasury where they belong and who benefited from any interest earned on these funds.

It appears that irregularities with donation deposits began in 2021 when no funds on behalf of the dive team were deposited under county control.

A Freedom of Information Act Request for key financial records was denied by the Dive Commander who claimed he had no responsive records pertaining to this request. Despite being instructed by the former State’s Attorney to provide these records, he has continued his refusal.

As it stands now, he is the only Shelby County official who has failed to comply with our FOIA requests over the past several years.

The forensic audit of the dive team's funds is currently underway, and a full accounting of how these funds were managed will be made public. Updates on this matter will be provided in future articles.