UNION, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Monroe County sheriff is in the middle of a contentious situation with the Monroe County Commission, whose members recently drafted a resolution to suspend him from office.
On Wednesday, June 14, the Commission voted to suspend the resolution pending the conclusion of an investigation into allegations by West Virginia State Police.
Monroe County Clerk Jeremy Meadows issued a press release stating that the commission had voted to suspend the resolution, and his office also released a copy of the resolution outlining the allegations against Sheriff Jeff Jones and Chief Deputy James Hylton.
Count one of the resolution states that Jones failed to keep a secure evidence room. It says that since Jan. 1, 2021, Jones has failed to keep an access log of all individuals entering the evidence room.
Count one also states that Jones failed to ensure that no loaded firearms were kept in the evidence room and further states that between Jan. 1 and May of this year, Jones returned two loaded firearms to family members of a criminal defendant from whom the firearms were seized. The resolution states that Jones gave the loaded guns back to the defendant’s family inside the Monroe County Courthouse.
Count one also alleges that Jones has failed to conduct an audit of the evidence room’s contents since January 2021 and that all deputies carried a key that opened all of the temporary evidence lockers.
The resolution further states that the Commission addressed its concerns about the evidence room’s security several times to Jones and his deputy, Hylton, to no avail, and that in recent months, the sheriff’s department had relinquished investigational duties of criminal cases to the West Virginia State Police due to potential lawsuits regarding the security of evidence in open criminal investigations.
Count two of the resolution states that Jones and Hylton botched a criminal investigation of an individual who had died of a gunshot injury. The resolution states that they failed to secure a possible crime scene, failed to locate a second gunshot wound on the victim’s body and prematurely released the crime scene to be cleaned by the victim’s relative.
Count three of the resolution states that Jones and Hylton hired Dep. E. Blankenship who, the Commission alleges, was known to them as having conducted criminal conduct, specifically soliciting nude photographs from a 17-year-old Monroe County High School student. The resolution alleges that Jones and Hylton did not conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged incident and, upon the conclusion of their investigation, did not terminate his position but rather placed him on 12 hours of administrative leave. The resolution further states that the West Virginia State Police conducted an independent investigation into the allegations and that Blankenship resigned from his position voluntarily.
