Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has briefed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s Office about its reporting on possible fraud involving Sussex County, Virginia, the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad and Supervisor Steve White.
C&BP filed a complaint with the inspector general on July 17, alleging 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.
SCVRS lost its federal nonprofit status in 2023, because it failed to file tax returns for three 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. White then pressured then-County Administrator Richard Douglas to fire Sheffield and his deputy, Chris Bailey. Douglas refused. In September 2025, White engineered the defunding of the positions of Sheffield and Bailey. He later fired Douglas and assumed the role of county administrator, despite having a full-time job paying $110,000 with the state of Virginia.
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.
Website failures
C&BP has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the county seeking the response times of the emergency medical services groups that serve the county. That information should be posted on the county’s website, but any links to pages containing that information don’t work.
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.”
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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