Comptroller Office: ECCAS investigation still ongoing
Published 4:46 pm Wednesday, July 19, 2017
As the future operations of the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter are being decided, one popular item discussed at meetings could soon be coming to a close.
After contacting the Tennessee Comptroller Office Wednesday afternoon, the Elizabethton Star confirmed that the office is still working to complete the investigation of the shelter but the Office “cannot provide any specific information about when” the report would be released.
Representation from the Office indicated that the department would not normally confirm involvement in an investigation, but can do so due to the investigation into the shelter being referenced in the annual audit report for fiscal year 2016 for Carter County.
The item of the audit proved to be a hot button issue with the operations at shelter for the past year in public forums and on social media. Since the announcement of the audit roughly one year ago, public volunteers inside the shelter and public fosters have been halted at the facility until the final results of the investigation are made available. Nonprofit organizations, i.e. Brother Wolf, Veterans Buddies are able to assist in a specific capacity.
“There were a number of issues,” Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey told the Elizabethton Star Wednesday. “I self-reported it to the Office due to the amount of issues that were going on.”
The mayor added that the Office sent representation to the county last week to conduct another round of interviews. The expectation, according to the mayor, is that once the report is complete, it would be sent to the leadership of the Comptroller’s Office, which in turn would be provided to the county, and possibly the District Attorney’s Office for any potential charges for possible wrongdoing.
“We want this completed just as much as everyone else,” Humphrey said about the audit. “As soon as we receive the information, it will be made available to the public.”
The mayor added that a series of releases would also be presented from the office following the results to help shed light on the issues.
The ECCAS is currently going through a transitional phase with the Animal Shelter Steering Committee recently forming to look into finding new oversight for the shelter. Humphrey resigned from his position as the oversight at the shelter during June’s County Commission meeting.
The Animal Shelter Steering Committee is comprised of County Commissioners Buford Peters and Randall Jenkins, City Council members Wes Frazier and Sam Shipley, County Finance Director Christa Byrd, Animal Advisory Board Chairman Mike Barnett and shelter director Shannon Posada. The group is expected to meet in the coming weeks.