OKLAHOMA CITY – A state forensic audit of the municipal records of Red Rock, a Noble County community of approximately 250 residents, raised the definition of “dysfunctional” to a new level.
The examination by the staff of State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd of town records for January 2021 through November 2023 revealed more than one-third of a million dollars – $336,169 to be precise – was “misappropriated.”
The Town of Red Rock depends primarily on state and county taxes and utility payments for its revenue. Between Jan. 1, 2019, and May 31, 2024, the Town expended a total of $1,289,109 from its General and Public Works Authority bank accounts.
The in-depth audit uncovered numerous examples of mismanagement, pre-signed blank checks, improper payroll payments to town employees and board members, indications or outright proof of apparent embezzlement, nepotism, backbiting, and Open Meetings Act violations.
The one overarching finding in SA&I audits of Bennington, Boynton, Coyle, Jones, Lone Wolf, Tryon, Wynnewood, and now Red Rock, was this: an utter lack of internal controls/oversight.
The comprehensive examination by the SA&I staff found that over a five-year period – between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2023 – Jolavon Childs, the former town clerk/ treasurer, misappropriated $241,752, and Roy Childs, Jolavon’s husband, received $42,595 in unlawful payments. Also, between Jan. 1, 2019, and May 30, 2024, town board members received $46,122 more than their allowable board pay, and former town clerk Michelle Cline-Cameron received $5,700 in excess of her allowable pay.
The $336,169 in questionable payments documented in the SA&I forensic audit represented 26% of the total expenditures from the town’s General Fund and Public Works Authority bank accounts over a five-year period.
In addition, withholding taxes were not paid properly for four consecutive years, resulting in payments of penalties and interest; town ordinances have not been updated in 37 years; Red Rock’s books had not been audited for eight years prior to the SA&I stepping in; town records that could be found were maintained in a haphazard, sloppy manner; and no minutes of any town board meetings in 2019-23 could be located.
Board of Trustees members said town employees “often” received Thanksgiving and Christmas bonuses – but the trustees never voted on nor approved those bonuses. Also, blank checks were routinely pre-signed.
During interviews with the SA&I staff, “it became apparent that the Town Board was not getting documentation such as minutes, ordinances, check registers or bank statements to review.” Also, the board members “did not appear aware of town business, did not meet on a regular basis, and were not aware of statutory requirements for a town board of trustees.”
In essence, state auditors could not find even a trace of oversight in Red Rock’s Town Hall operations for five years. Members of the Board of Trustees “could not confirm Jolavon Childs’ salary at any point during the audit period.”
Brian Hermanson, district attorney for Kay and Noble counties, requested the Red Rock audit. “Citizens were concerned about potential wrongdoing and the lack of Town audits over the course of several years,” Byrd wrote.
Southwest Ledger
called the District 8 chief prosecutor about the audit and received this reply from Hermanson, “No comment at this moment.” Also, no criminal charges had been filed in the case as of 5 p.m. Oct. 11, according to the Oklahoma State Courts Network.