Greene County sheriff owes $4.97 million in bingo money auditors say he couldn't document
Alabama's Examiners of Public Accounts filed an audit on Oct. 3, 2025 covering the Greene County Sheriff's Office from October 2018 to April 2024 under Sheriff Jonathan "Joe" Benison. It found $3,159,031.48 in Bingo Fund payments to employees on top of their county salaries and $2.16 million in other bingo disbursements, including $1.18 million to consultants and attorneys, without adequate documentation. Examiners charged him $5,336,810.77, granted $370,383.08 in relief, and certified the rest to the district attorney and attorney general for collection. The sheriff refused to sign a management representation letter, and several findings repeat ones from 2014 and 2018. Benison denied wrongdoing and called the audit a state vendetta. A year later, with no collection suit from the AG or DA, the Greene County Commission sued him itself in fall 2026; county EMS had suspended ambulance transports for lack of funds in July.
turning over the findings to the District Attorney and Attorney General Steve Marshall's office
I didn't back down when they sued me, and I won't back down now.
We waited. We asked. We have heard nothing.
There was inadequate or no supporting documentation to support disbursements for payments made directly to employees in the amount of $3,159,031.48 paid from the Bingo Fund.
Said the examiners "should be ashamed" and called the audit part of a state vendetta; says the spending was documented.
Contacted — no response by publication. This space stays open; any statement is added here in full.
No outcome recorded yet.