The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has sent initial findings from its investigation of alleged criminal activity in the Byrnes Mill Police Department to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
In a May 4 letter to Byrnes Mill City Administrator Adam Thompson, Sheriff Dave Marshak said the report was sent to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office so Jefferson County prosecutors can determine if there were criminal violations worthy of prosecution.
Marshak also said the investigation was sent to the Attorney General’s Office to consider the allegations that the city’s processes violated rules on the “separation of powers for municipalities that have their own municipal court system.”
In his letter, Marshak said the investigation was isolated to criminal complaints and that “investigators conducted interviews and forensically examined digital evidence, including deleted emails and messages.”
Marshak and other Sheriff’s Office representatives said they would not release the findings to the public because the investigation is considered open while prosecutors review the report.
Marshak also said investigation uncovered “some non-criminal observations,” which were outside the scope of the criminal investigation, but warned the city that if they were not addressed could lead to “additional challenges in the future.”
The Sheriff’s Office investigation began the day after former Byrnes Mill city attorney Allison Sweeney resigned on March 1. When she resigned, Sweeney submitted more than 180 pages of records to city officials and the Sheriff’s Office documenting what she claimed was illegal activity.
Sweeney said Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank Selvaggio directed officers to void tickets, including DWI citations, directed an employee to sign the attorney’s name to documents without the attorney’s permission and signed contracts for police equipment without approval from the Board of Alderpersons.
She also said Selvaggio voided at least two citations for driving under the influence and forwarded another DUI case to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Sweeney said only the city’s prosecuting attorney should send DUI cases to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office after identifying the violation as a potential felony and only the officer who wrote a ticket should void it.
Sweeney also said she found her signature stamp had been used to make recommendations on other tickets without her knowledge or permission, some of which dated to a time when she was on medical leave.
In his letter, Marshak recommended that the city hire an outside firm to “conduct an audit and internal review beyond the criminal investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office.”
Thompson said he is open to a review of the city’s policies and procedures.
“A look into our process, whether it is internal or with an outside company, is absolutely something we should do, and it will be an important thing going forward,” he said. “I think everybody from time to time could use an outside view to see how we are doing and to make sure we are doing things right. I’m 100 percent behind having our processes looked at and getting some feedback on what we can improve to make sure we are committed to the service and protection of our citizens and that we are being transparent and doing things following the constitution and the letter of the law.
“When this (the review of the Sheriff’s Office findings) is over, I will have a discussion with the board and our attorney whether we should go with an outside investigation as far as our processes or an internal review.”
Thompson said he and the city’s attorney, Craig H. Smith, already have been reviewing policies and processes. Thompson also said he does not plan to recommend that the Board of Alderpersons make any changes until after the investigation into the Police Department is completed.
“Our ability to look at it and say, ‘We had some deficiencies, and we are going to correct them,’ is important,” Thompson said. “We are willing to make changes to ensure the citizens we serve are taken care of and that we are doing the right thing.”
Smith, of the Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O’Keefe law firm in St. Louis, was hired on March 15. Smith is being paid $175 per hour. Sweeney and her father’s practice, the Robert K. Sweeney law firm in Hillsboro, had been charging $140 an hour, but raised it to $170 in January, Thompson said.
The Sweeney firm had represented Byrnes Mill since 2011.