What records reveal about investigation into NC treasurer’s use of state vehicles

As part of its probe into State Treasurer Dale Folwell’s use of state-owned vehicles, the State Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant last week for a wide range of records and documents from the agency that oversees the state’s motor fleet.

The warrant, and other accompanying court records including a warrant application and probable cause affidavit filed by the investigating SBI agent, provide details about the ongoing investigation into Folwell’s use of state vehicles.

Folwell, who has served as treasurer since 2017 and didn’t run for reelection this year, choosing instead to run for the Republican nomination for governor, said in a statement Wednesday that he has provided “pages of documentation” over the course of the review of his travel logs that led to the SBI launching an investigation, and would continue to cooperate with state officials to “satisfactorily resolve this issue.”

Here’s what we know about the investigation so far.

What triggered the SBI’s investigation?

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The News & Observer on Wednesday that she requested the SBI launch an investigation into Folwell’s use of state vehicles.

Freeman said that state law requires “evidence uncovered during a routine audit which may amount to the misuse of state property be reported to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.”

That audit was conducted by Motor Fleet Management, the division of the N.C. Department of Administration that owns, maintains and assigns state vehicles for use by elected officials and state employees.

A sworn affidavit filed by the SBI, in support of its application for a search warrant, states that Motor Fleet Management “conducted a compliance review and discovered that (Folwell) had used three state owned vehicles to commute to and from work and for other possible personal purposes without authorization.”

The affidavit states that the SBI interviewed an official with the Department of Administration, who told investigators that Motor Fleet Management started conducting compliance reviews in July 2023 to ensure that state vehicles were being used lawfully.

It isn’t clear what led Motor Fleet Management to initiate the compliance reviews. A few months earlier, former State Auditor Beth Wood’s use of state vehicles had come under scrutiny, after she crashed a Toyota Camry assigned to her into a parked car while leaving a holiday party in downtown Raleigh in December 2022.

Officials chose three state agencies for their reviews, one of which was the treasurer’s office.

As part of the reviews, officials requested mileage logs from the agencies for each assigned vehicle for four specific months during the 2022-2023 fiscal year: July 2022, November 2022, December 2022, and April 2023. Those logs were then compared with data from tracking devices the vehicles are equipped with, “to see if they were consistent.”

Using a state-owned vehicle for personal use is a violation of Motor Fleet Management regulations, and of state law, which classifies misuse of a permanently assigned state vehicle as a Class 2 misdemeanor.

What did the review of treasurer’s office logs find?

The affidavit states that Motor Fleet Management requested mileage logs for each of the seven vehicles assigned to the treasurer’s office, receiving logs for each vehicle “except the ones driven by Treasurer Folwell.”

During the months covered by the review, Folwell used three vehicles, and didn’t keep logs of his usage, the affidavit states.

Officials checked data from the tracking devices on the vehicles, and staff with the Department of Administration “made two attempts to obtain explanations for specific instances of travel for the vehicles” Folwell used. The affidavit states that Folwell’s responses “did not provide explanations” for his travel, but indicated that he had driven the vehicles for which mileage logs had not been maintained.

Where did Folwell drive?

According to the affidavit, Folwell used the state vehicles to travel to, among other places:

▪ a church

▪ a dentist’s office

▪ a country club

▪ his residences in Raleigh and Winston-Salem

▪ various Chick-fil-A and Zaxby’s locations

▪ the GOP headquarters in Raleigh

▪ the Alamance County GOP headquarters in Burlington

▪ the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

The SBI executed a second search warrant last week for the Flat Rock Playhouse in Hendersonville.

The affidavit for that warrant application states that investigators believe Folwell made private use of a state vehicle when he visited the entertainment venue in December 2022 to attend a show. The search warrant was for records maintained by the venue identifying customers who attended shows.

What has Folwell said in response to the investigation?

After WRAL, and then other news outlets, reported on Wednesday that his use of state vehicles was being investigated by the SBI, Folwell said in a statement that he had been “asking for information and clarity for nearly a year,” and had “provided pages of documentation” over the course of the audit of his travel logs.

Folwell released another statement on Thursday, in which he said he “learned just yesterday that a state agency investigator believed it necessary to obtain search warrants to look into use of my assigned state vehicle for the many public functions I routinely perform throughout the state, all of which are purposefully planned to accomplish the maximum job duties possible during the trips.”

“I have tried to be very careful in following published guidance — including written communications from the N.C. Department of Administration stating that mileage logs were no longer necessary — and the instructions of our internal chief financial officer regarding the use of state vehicles,” Folwell said.

“I enjoy the demanding workload, which involves much coordination to save time and money, and being accessible anytime and anywhere in the state,” the statement continued.

Folwell said his staff is helping compile more documents “to fully answer any outstanding questions that might remain after our numerous phone calls and the records we previously submitted to the state agencies conducting the compliance audit,” and that he would have more to say after those documents have been compiled.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com

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