COLLETON SHERIFF'S BUDGET DISPUTED

WALTERBORO--Former Colleton County Sheriff Allan Beach says he promised to
use pending federal drug seizure money to pay an Alaskan-based security
company $338,600 the office owes for improvements it made to the jail last
year.

Beach said Wednesday that "there is more than enough" seizure money due to
his old department that can be used to pay back Alutiiq. He said his
successor, Sheriff George Malone, should uphold the promise he made.

"I think he's obligated to pay it," Beach said. If he chooses not to,
"it'll just end up in court and we'll see what happens."

Malone, whose office is running on a projected deficit, said Beach's
comments about the seizure money are incorrect.

He said there are three pending cases in which the county will get money
back from drug seizures made on Interstate 95, but they won't pay the
outstanding bill.

"What's pending is not enough," he said. "Plus, there are some things I
would like to do with that money."

Malone, who didn't know the exact amount the office is due to receive back
from the federal government, said he has no intention of paying Alutiiq.

"I didn't agree to the bill," he said. "I don't even know what was done."

A spokesman for Alutiiq, which has an office in Charleston, says the
company did more than $460,000 worth of security improvements on the jail.
So far, a little more than $125,000 has been paid, from when Beach was
still in office.Beach said the improvements included cameras and more
barbed wire to prevent escapes.

"The jail originally was nothing but a shell," he said. "I would say I
turned it turned from a leaking sieve into a high-grade security facility
that the county couldn't afford."

Since taking office in January, Malone has received $90,000 in supplemental
appropriations from County Council to help his office cut a deficit that
was projected to be as high as $120,000.

Malone said he inherited much of the deficit from the prior administration,
which had been using recovered drug money to pay for what the county couldn't.

Malone said nearly all of the seizure money was gone when he took office.

Beach, who said there was plenty of money in the budget when he left, said
Malone shouldn't have counted on the seizure money to be there.

While he didn't keep track of how much seizure money he spent while in
office, Beach said millions of dollars went toward the jail, a new 911
system and every single one of the 65 vehicles his office purchased.

"A lot of people are doing drug interdiction, but only some of them do well
and Colleton County is one of those teams," Beach said.

Malone is now asking the County Council for a $580,000 increase to his
budget next year, of which $313,675 would go toward 10 replacement vehicles.

That request was all but shot down at Tuesday night's council meeting, as
council members tried to decide what to do with a budget proposal that was
$4 million higher than last year's.

Malone said his campaign promise of building substations throughout the
county is unreachable right now, though his office is managing the best it can.

He said he and some other deputies have to wear bulletproof vests that were
designed for other deputies.

The $57,000 council gave to the sheriff's office Tuesday will go toward
vehicle repairs, gasoline and food for inmates.