Auditor Finds Excessive Spending at Kentucky Fire Dept.

A state auditor’s report has found $123,000 in questionable expenditures at a volunteer fire department in eastern Kentucky that included thousands in electronics purchases, a car, restaurant bills and gift cards.

The Kentucky auditor’s office released the report on the Garrett Fire District and Garrett Area Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday. The district is in Floyd County.

It traced expenditures by former assistant chief Terry Triplett, who was also the treasurer. The report found $62,000 in questionable cash withdrawals and said Triplett purchased a vehicle and opened a store credit card in the department’s name. Investigators also found 800 pornographic videos on a department-owned computer Triplett kept at his home.

“The magnitude of abuse at such a small fire department is shocking,” Edelen said in a statement Tuesday. “Taxpayers in Floyd County ought to be outraged that one individual appears to have used fire department resources on everything from televisions to chewing tobacco and pornography.”

The examination of the department’s finances was prompted by members of the Garrett Fire District board of trustees.

It found that department funds were used to buy two flat-screen TVs, a laptop computer and a digital camera. The report said all the electronics are missing.

Triplett was reported missing in March by Kentucky State Police, but it was later determined that he had left the state. Triplett did not return a phone message left Tuesday.

The report also found that Triplett paid himself more than $8,000 without approval. The auditor’s office said the fire district did not obtain required financial statement audits or submit required financial reports to state officials or the IRS and lost its tax-exempt status as a result.