Horry County officials are waiting word from the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division about the status of an inquiry into an audit of the county police department’s evidence room.
Tom Rice and Lisa Bourcier, Horry County Council chairman and spokeswoman, respectively, said Tuesday there have been no new developments that they’ve been made aware of. Calls to SLED officials were not returned.
Last month, SLED representatives began a preliminary inquiry stemming from a request from the County Council asking for an audit of the evidence room. Greg Hembree, 15th Circuit Solicitor, said at the time he’d been asked if his office experienced any problems because of possible missing or mishandled evidence.
In October, Rice forwarded a letter to SLED after the majority of the County Council voted for an audit to clear any questions raised in an anonymous letter concerning procedures and evidence handling at the Horry County Police Department.
Members of the Horry County Legislative Delegation also asked SLED officials to look into allegations made in the August letter.
Former Horry County Administrator John Weaver headed up the investigation into the claims made in the letter, which included allegations of theft from the police department’s evidence room.
Weaver concluded there was no basis for any of the nine allegations, but the County Council remained uneasy about the accusations of stealing from the evidence room and requested the SLED audit.
A separation agreement between Weaver and the county was approved on Nov. 15, ending Weaver’s 11 years of service as both administrator and county attorney.
E-Mail
Print
The Sun News Terms & Conditions and Commenting Policies can be reviewed here.