FRANKLIN COUNTY, Franklin County Sheriff, Jim Raymond, has reached an agreement with County Commissioners to restore Purchasing Card Privileges.
In February 2023, Sheriff Raymond traveled for a state Criminal Justice Training hearing in the Seattle area.
During this trip, he used the office purchasing card for two dinners. He exceeded the $36 per dinner budget by $21.
A dispute began between the sheriff and County commissioners, the dispute resulted in a records request for 59,000 emails.
Sheriff Raymond also filed a Notice of Claim for $24,999 against the county.
According to Franklin County Administrator Mike Gonzalez, An agreement has been reached to restore Purchasing Card privileges, Sheriff Raymond has also agreed to follow The County Travel Policy.
“I’ve worked hard with the Sheriff and Commissioners to get to this point, and this should close the matter,” said Gonzalez.
According to Gonzalez, the county is currently working to update Franklin County’s purchasing card policy.
Sheriff Raymond has issued a press release in response to the County commissioners statements,
Sheriff Raymond states that he has been and will continue to adhere to County policy however “Following the Auditor’s additional rules that are often changing are burdensome to the operation of the Sheriff’s Office” said Raymond.
Sheriff Raymond states that in the original sheriff Raymond stated ” I made a demand that my purchasing card be turned on by the end of the day” Said Raymond, “Legal action will be considered if this is not done.”
Sheriff Raymond has made clear in the press release that he does not believe the issue has been resolved.
According to Sheriff Raymond he has no intention at this time to drop the $24,999 claim against the county.
“The Board of County Commissioners has the ability to easily resolve my claim” Said Raymond.
