Friday, January 22, 2016

Criminal charges brought against Goodman Fire District Board president

(From State Auditor Nicole Galloway)

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released the following statement after McDonald County Prosecutor Bill Dobbs announced charges against Goodman Fire Protection District Board President Jim Morgan.

"My audit identified serious concerns with the management of the Goodman Fire Protection District. Concerned citizens brought this issue to my attention through the petition process, and these charges show how audits get real results and increase accountability. My office conducted a thorough review of the issues and worked with the prosecuting attorney to ensure his office had the information they needed to proceed. Firefighters and first responders across Missouri risk their lives to protect others, and they should feel confident their governing boards are operating transparently, and in accordance with the law."

In an audit released last month, Auditor Galloway identified conflicts of interest and questionable financial activity in the Goodman Fire Protection District. The prosecuting attorney's office today announced plans to file two misdemeanor charges against the board president for actions taken in 2013 and 2014.

The complete audit report on the Goodman Fire Protection District is online here.

Goodman announced that he will file two misdemeanor counts of prohibited acts by certain elected or appointed public official. Morgan faces a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in jail.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It might be a time to look deeply into this board and for all board members to contemplate resigning for the good of the fire department. They as a group misused the trust of the taxpayer by skirting many laws and regulations set up to prevent such abuse. Be it intentional or by sheer accident they did not follow guidelines set up to prevent such abuses. This smacks of good old county politics and the good old boy network that cannot be tolerated in our modern world. McDonald county has come out of the dark ages and into the modern world with laws that need and should be followed. Future actions by these same people will be met with intense scrutiny and with good reason. They should be ashamed of their actions and ask for the taxpayers forgiveness. They are modern horse thieves and should bow out gracefully.

froggie635 said...

Amen. Time for a change and time for new people to step up and take their olace