The Checks and Balances Project

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the response times of Sussex County, Virginia, emergency medical responders.

AI-assisted searches indicate the records are on the Sussex County website, but links to those meetings and records don’t work. The failure to maintain the site and keep records available is an apparent violation of Virginia law.

Response times of the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad (SCRVS) run by Steve White, the chair of the county board of supervisors, are of particular interest. A ChatGPT search showed the SCVRS weeknight response times “consistently exceeded the 20-minute standard for several months.”

C&BP has reported that White voted to send taxpayer funds to SCVRS, which is an apparent violation of Virginia’s conflict-of-interest law. White also engineered the defunding of the positions of the county fire chief and deputy fire chief in September 2025 and the April firing of County Administrator Richard Douglas.

A previous Freedom of Information Act request by C&BP yielded an October 2025 memorandum of understanding between the county and SCVRS in which the county agreed to pay SCVRS $422,250 a year for EMS services. That amount was more than twice the revenues SCVRS reported in its publicly available tax returns from 2019, the last year they filed tax returns with the IRS.

The IRS suspended SCVRS’ nonprofit status in 2023 after it failed to file tax returns for three straight years.

Ray Locker is the executive director for Checks & Balances Project, an investigative watchdog blog holding government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP is provided by Renew American Prosperity and individual donors.

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Virginia law requires counties to post the minutes, agendas and agenda packets on their websites within seven days, but Sussex County’s site includes no information on meetings before 2025 and is missing minutes from some meetings after that date.

State law § 2.2-3707.2. says, “Posting of minutes for local public bodies. Except as provided in subsection I of § 2.2-3707, any local public body subject to the provisions of this chapter shall post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes.”

However, attempts to access the links on the site for meetings before 2025 yield this message: “Sorry! That page doesn’t seem to exist.”

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has asked county supervisors, the county attorney and the commonwealth attorney for comment about the failure to provide transparent information about county government. So far, only Supervisor Thomas Baicy has responded.

“I apologize for any inconvenience incurred,” Baicy told C&BP. “When I joined the board a few years ago I brought the website issues to then county administrator Richard Douglas (recently fired ) that the website is woefully in need of an update /upgrade .

“Any  inquiries should be shared  with our ACTING CO ADMINISTRATOR.

“Again apologies and I hope the problem gets fixed.”

Steve White, the chair of the Sussex County Board of Supervisors, is the current acting county administrator, a position he holds in apparent violation of state law.

C&BP had to file a Freedom of Information Act request to get the minutes from the Sept. 18, 2025, meeting, which is not even listed on the county website.

Shilton Ricks-Butts, the clerk for the board of supervisors, supplied the minutes.

Minutes that are available from 2025 meetings show concerns about the county’s problems funding emergency medical services and the lack of financial information from some EMS providers, such as the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Service, which is run by White.

Ray Locker is the executive director for Checks & Balances Project, an investigative watchdog blog holding government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP is provided by Renew American Prosperity and individual donors.

You may also want to read:

Checks & Balances Project files FOIA request seeking Sussex County EMS records

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The post Lack of information on Sussex County website appears to violate Virginia law appeared first on Checks and Balances Project.

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has filed a complaint against the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad and Sussex County Supervisor Steve White with the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general.

The complaint cites alleged potential fraud involving billing for ambulance calls conducted by the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad (SCVRS) and the lack of transparency in the squad’s finances.

C&BP has reported that SCVRS lost its federal nonprofit status in 2023 for failing to file tax returns for three straight years. C&BP also reported that in the five years for which tax returns are available – 2015 through 2019 – SCVRS reported a $304,000 surplus.

Minutes from county supervisors’ meetings show that then-Fire Chief Nick Sheffield questioned the squad’s finances, saying it was impossible to determine where the squad’s money went. In September 2025, White engineered the defunding of the positions of Sheffield and his deputy, Chris Bailey.

The next month, records show, the county signed a memorandum of understanding with SCVRS to pay the squad $422,250 for ambulance services for the next year.

Apparent violations

White has engaged in an apparent violation of Virginia’s conflict-of-interest law for elected officials by voting to direct taxpayer funds to the rescue squad.

White is also in apparent violation of Virginia law by serving as Sussex County’s acting administrator after he pushed the firing of County Administrator Richard Douglas in April.

C&BP has filed complaints with the FBI, Virginia state police, Sussex Commonwealth Attorney, Virginia attorney general and the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services. It has offered to brief each of these agencies, with no word back yet from Sussex Commonwealth Attorney Regina Sykes.

Funding for emergency medical services has been a consistent issue in Sussex County for the last three years. Supervisors voted on Thursday to approve the construction of a 500MW solar farm that will generate an estimated $4 million a year in taxes, which is twice what the county spends on EMS services.

Ray Locker is the executive director for Checks & Balances Project, an investigative watchdog blog holding government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP is provided by Renew American Prosperity and individual donors.

You may also want to read:

Checks & Balances Project files FBI complaint about White, SCVRS

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Checks & Balances Project seeks Sussex County’s recusal policy

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