Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 13, 1993 TAG: 9311130168
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Full disclosure, Wells said, would put to rest rumors surrounding interest that had accumulated in a checking account that he used to write payroll checks.
Wells, however, has yet to comply with a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Roanoke Times & World-News on Oct. 18. The law requires a response within five working days.
On Friday, the newspaper filed a motion in Lynchburg Circuit Court in an effort to force Wells to release the information immediately.
Wells, through an attorney, delayed a hearing on the motion until Monday.
An audit report released this week disclosed that the interest-bearing checking account had a balance of nearly $30,000 at the close of the fiscal year June 30.
Wells must return any interest earned on public money deposited in the account, the state auditor of public accounts, Walter J. Kucharski, said Wednesday.
After receiving the audit report, Bedford County Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Ware called for an investigation into possible criminal violations.
Wells has denied any wrongdoing.
Wells told the newspaper last month that he could not comply with its request because all the records were in the hands of the county's outside auditor, Wally Cox.
Cox said this week that the records never were in his possession.
The checking account was part of an antiquated system that Wells, Bedford County's top lawman since 1974, used to pay his deputies. Most sheriffs long have relied upon the centralized payroll system in their counties.
In April, Wells stopped using the account after the General Assembly enacted a law restricting the type of finances that sheriffs can control.
The law was passed in the wake of revelations that Bristol Sheriff Marshall Honaker embezzled an estimated $745,000 paid to his department to house inmates from other localities. Honaker committed suicide shortly after the scheme came to light in January 1992.
by CNB