CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Charleston County is looking into whether it will reprimand Sheriff Kristin Graziano after leaders there say she failed to properly execute a contract for a bid.
Sheriff Graziano signed a contract with Mila Consulting, LLC in January 2022 and paid the firm more than $15,000 for consultation services including language access, special projects, and out-of-pocket expenses.
It’s something the county’s director of contracts and procurement, Barrett J. Tolbert, said was inappropriately signed by Sheriff Graziano and did not meet a requirement to receive three outside quotes for a contract bid.
In a March 8th letter to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and Graziano, Tolbert said: “This procurement does not meet the criteria for sole source/non-competitive procurement and two additional quotes for services should have been obtained to complete the process.”
The county said it is working to determine what corrective and disciplinary action will be taken against Sheriff Graziano, including potential monetary fines.
In an interview with News 2 last month, Sheriff Graziano said she contracted the firm to develop training and changes within CCSO.
Something she said comes after learning people within the community have avoided calling 911 for help in the past due to the lack of trust or inability to communicate with those responding to calls.
“What the needs are in the community, what their (deputy’s) needs are to do their job in the community in these low English or limited English speaking communities and how we can do better,” said Sheriff Graziano at the time.
She said a goal for the sheriff’s office was to overhaul its communication with the public.
The contract with Mila Consulting is set to expire on September 20th, 2022.
News 2 has reached out to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
