FBI seizes campaign cash from embattled Virginia sheriff: report

A Virginia sheriff had $10,000 seized from his campaign account by the FBI as they investigated his county, NBC4 reported.

The seizure of Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins' campaign cash came two weeks after Culpeper County employees were subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury. It's not known if the seizure is related to the subpoenas and the FBI did not comment to NBC4.

As NBC4 points out, Jenkins has a history of controversy. When the Virginia General Assembly was considering changes to the commonwealth’s gun laws back in 2019, Jenkins said he would deputize thousands of "auxiliary deputies" -- volunteers who work a few hours a month to help support law enforcement. Jenkins’ plan was to deputize the volunteers and allow them to retain the gun rights the General Assembly sought to curtail.

The gun laws were never passed and Jenkins' plan did not go into effect, but NBC4 found 46 auxiliary deputies appointed by Jenkins who've been sworn in by a circuit court judge -- more than double the number of auxiliary deputies authorized by a Culpeper County ordinance “not to exceed fifteen percent of the paid force.”

Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that the auxiliary deputies were not properly trained. A Virginia Freedom of Information Act request found that only three of the 46 auxiliaries have training records -- a lack of training that would be in violation of the sheriff’s own general order.

"[Auxiliary deputies] should be only doing what they're qualified to do," said Professor Adam Dobrin, an expert on volunteer policing.

“The public should have a certainty that this is someone who has had the training commensurate with their authority and responsibility," Dobrin said.

Read the full report over at NBC4.