The employee of the Davis County Sheriff’s Office who oversees budgeting, financial planning and manages procurement and money handling was put on paid administrative leave Thursday amid another county audit of the agency.
R. Keith Major, the sheriff’s business manager who has worked in the office for nearly 23 years, was placed on leave, the county’s human resources director confirmed Friday.
Clerk/Auditor Curtis Koch said he was conducting an audit but declined to say anything else. The Standard-Examiner first reported that Major was the subject of the audit.
“I am conducting an audit,” Koch told The Tribune on Friday. “I have no comment on the audit as it’s still pending.”
Major, who makes an annual salary of about $95,000 in the position, is also listed as the treasurer of the Davis County Republican Party.
As the sheriff’s business manager, he also oversees accounting, establishes economic objectives, maintains billing, time sheets and other financial records, according to a job description.
Major didn’t respond to a request for comment, nor did Sheriff Todd Richardson or officials from the county Republican Party. An assistant in the sheriff’s office referred all questions to the county commission.
The audit follows interest from the county into the operational and financial functions of the sheriff’s office.
During its December budgeting, the commission shifted three financial employees out of the sheriff’s office to Koch’s office, according to budget documents. That shift happened Monday, according to Davis County Commissioner Jim Smith, who also confirmed the audit into the office.
“You’ll have a better feel for it in a couple of days,” Smith said.
Koch’s office investigated Richardson’s office in 2016 for alleged time card fraud.
Investigators and prosecutors with Attorney General Sean Reyes’s office also looked into Richardson’s office last year for time card fraud after Richardson allegedly allowed an employee to take time off but collect pay for it.
The office determined that “notwithstanding an apparent or possible technical violation of law” there wasn’t a reasonable likelihood of conviction, and they closed the case.
