(The Center Square) – A referral linked to a sheriff’s office incident report about small town improprieties in a North Carolina county has been found unsubstantiated by the state auditor’s office.
In Ayden, a town of about 5,000 in the Coastal Plains, there is no guarantee of “the absence of any wrongdoing,” said the report of the auditor’s office. It was labeled “not exhaustive.”
The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office provided the referral. A resident of the town made the accusation of destruction of records between 2019 and 2021 with intent to conceal information. An application for the town’s Planning Board was also deliberately overlooked, said the complainant.
The staff of first-year Republican state Auditor Dave Boliek said it found Ayden had maintained meetings minutes as required by state law; didn’t’ violate the state’s Public Records Act; and the complainant’s application to the City Limits Planning Board was considered.
“This investigation does not preclude the possibility of future allegations, whether similar or different in nature, from being subject to investigation or audit by OSA,” the analysis said.
