Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has filed complaints with four Virginia law enforcement agencies seeking an investigation into the activities of Sussex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve White and the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Filed Monday, C&BP sent complaints to the Sussex County Sheriff’s Department, Commonwealth Attorney, Virginia Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Attorney General Jay Jones that highlighted White’s apparent conflicts of interest in voting on issues related to the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad, which he runs.
The complaints also referred law enforcement to SCVRS’ loss of nonprofit status for failing to file tax returns for three straight years, its lack of financial transparency, and its relationship with the Stony Creek Rescue Squad, a nonstock corporation registered at White’s home address in Yale, Va. Nonstock corporations are not required to file public tax returns.
Although the names of both entities are virtually identical, SCVRS is registered at a post office box in Stony Creek, while the Stony Creek Rescue Squad is registered at White’s home.
During an April 17, 2025, supervisors meeting, White voted to order the county administrator to develop a plan that would give SCVRS a sole-source contract with the county to provide emergency medical services in its part of Sussex County. C&BP asked law enforcement to investigate whether that vote violated Virginia’s conflict of interest law for public officials.
Then-Fire Chief Nick Sheffield told supervisors during that meeting that SCVRS’ finances were virtually impossible to determine, because the group had not filed timely tax returns. Later that year, supervisors voted to defund Sheffield’s position, and he now works for a county in North Carolina.
C&BP reported on July 1 that SCVRS’ tax returns from 2015 through 2019, the last year they were available, showed the group had a $304,000 surplus. However, those returns provided no accounting of where the excess money went.
Unanswered questions
C&BP filed two Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the county’s recusal policy for public officials, the number of recusals in the last 25 years and all records from 2022 to the present of all communications between SCVRS and county officials.
The county asked for a seven-day extension on June 24 but has not provided any records since then.
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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