In a press conference earlier today, Grayson County Sheriff Tom Watt stated that on July 19, Fire Marshal Kevin Walton and Assistant Fire Marshal Kerry Price were terminated from the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office. Watt said the action was due to findings of an Internal Affairs Investigation that began on July 11, 2017. Walton and Price now have five days to appeal their decision.
The investigation found conduct that could be considered criminal in nature; specifically Forgery of a Government Document. The information from this investigation has been forwarded to the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office to determine if criminal charges will be filed. Due to possible criminal charges, Watt said that it is still considered an open investigation.
The documents were inspection forms in regards to protective equipment which eventually became related to an audit.
Watt stated that the Grayson County Fire Marshals were transferred from Office of Emergency Management to the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office a short time ago.
“During that handoff time, we received the information from the Office of Emergency Management’s (Coordinator) Sarah Somers,” said Watt. “We looked into it and determined that indeed there was something there and we needed to investigate it.”
Watt will wait until the appeal process concludes before seeking to fill the positions.
Click here for the photo gallery of the press conference.
