BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Leaders from five Georgia counties are calling for the Brunswick district attorney to step down after an audit revealed his office had a nearly $1-million budget shortfall. But the area’s top prosecutor insists he won’t resign.
The audit found a nearly $1-million shortfall under District Attorney Keith Higgins. The financial review also determined his office’s records were disorganized, and auditors could not even complete the full scope of their work. Nonetheless, the district attorney blames someone else.
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The boards of commissioners of Glynn, Appling, Camden, Jeff Davis, and Wayne counties are all part of the Brunswick judicial circuit. They requested an audit for the financial activities of their district attorney’s office for the last few years, beginning in January 2021, to determine what caused a $1 million deficit in the 2024 budget. It’s a budget each of their counties fund.
The Baker Tilly firm conducted the audit. Its final report, released just two days ago, exposed what it called a complete failure of management and oversight in the financial and personnel operations of the district attorney’s office.
In part, the audit stated that it “identified multiple critical deficiencies, most notably in the area of internal controls. These weaknesses contributed to questionable cash withdrawals and transactions that raise concerns about potential misappropriation of funds or fraudulent activity.”
They also noted that the “poor record keeping” and because of the overall state of the financial records, “we were unable to perform many of the activities.”
The audit alleges possible fraudulent charges that a former office manager made to pay for a trip to New Orleans. It also says that the manager made a cash withdrawal to go on a cruise. And paid for a spouse’s trip to Las Vegas, among other things.
We reached out to commissioners from all 5 counties, and they didn’t want to talk because it’s an ongoing investigation, but Glynn County Commissioner Walter Rafolski sent us a statement.
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“The audit confirms what the counties have experienced for months, an alarming lack of financial management and oversight in the District Attorney’s office. The findings are deeply troubling and reflect a complete breakdown in the systems that safeguards public money. The five counties expect immediate corrective action and full accountability. Taxpayers deserve better, and we intend to ensure they receive it.”
Action News Jax also reached out to Higgins’ office to see if he’d speak with us, but he refused. His office didn’t provide a comment and instead referred us to this press release in which Higgins says he refuses to step down, stating:
“I am the district attorney, and I am not resigning.”
“I fully cooperated with Baker Tilley. During this process, I became aware of the misappropriation of government funds by the former office manager. I referred the matter to law enforcement for investigation.”
Now there is another ongoing investigation into the audit’s findings concerning that office manager, who is no longer working in Higgins’ office.
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