A Jackson Parish resident has filed multiple complaints with state officials about what he perceives as harassment and other illegal or ethical activities on the part of the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The state’s response?
His concerns were turned over to “the external auditor for the Jackson Parish Sheriff.”
In other words, the state, rather than initiating its own investigation into the validity of Tommy McDougald’s complaints, has more or less directed the sheriff to investigate himself.
An “external auditor” may either be the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office or a local independent certified public accounting firm as mandated by state law. Local independent CPA firms may serve as an alternative to the state auditor.
In McDougald’s case, he was notified by email on Wednesday (Sept. 23) that his file was being sent to the “external auditor” without specifying if “external” mean a state auditor of an independent CPA but it would seem to imply the latter.
“If the auditor finds any merit to the complaints, there will be a finding in the audit report due to our office December 31, 2026,” the three-sentence email concluded.
McDougald, a resident of the Jackson Parish Town of Chatham, began having problems with the sheriff’s office when two of his pet cats disappeared about the time the sheriff’s office was capturing cats and sending them to unknown locations. He never found his cats but soon after he lodged his first complaints, he said he felt deputies were stalking and surveilling him.
He even provided video evidence of two sheriff’s vehicles parked outside his home but a deputy later explained the office was “investigating” a burglary in McDougald’s neighborhood.
McDougald has also filed complaints about Sheriff Brent Barnett’s illegal use of a departmental vehicle for campaigning for office, of his hiring an executive administrative assistant who is a convicted felon for the theft of public funds while working in nearby Bienville Parish. He also has accused the department of “intentional database manipulation.”
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