The county has been cleared in a state auditor’s investigation that stemmed from an anonymous call.

On Aug. 3, the county received a request from the State Auditor’s Office for information about two purchases: phase II of a Wright’s Creek, Belhaven, property, intended for use as public access to Beaufort County waterways through partnership with North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; and land purchased for Beaufort County Community College’s public safety complex. Investigators said they also received a complaint about the Motorola radio project the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners signed off on last year in order to improve first responders’ communications throughout the county — gaps in service meant radio communications were not reliable in some places, including some Beaufort County schools, according to Vic Williams, e-911 communications center director. Another complaint centered around the drug-buy money used by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit to purchase illegal substances in “controlled buys.”

County Manager Brian Alligood said staff was never given specifics about the complaints.

“We asked, we said, ‘Tell us what the specifics are,’ but (they told us) ‘Generally it revolves around these things,’” Alligood said. “We said, ‘Whatever you need. We’ll give you any documents you need.’”

State investigators made two trips to Beaufort County: on Aug. 23-34, they individually interviewed the county’s seven commissioners, Alligood and Williams; on Sept. 18-19, they returned to interview sheriff’s office staff about the drug-buy fund. By the end of the day on the Sept. 19, Barry Long, supervisor of the State Auditor’s Special Investigations unit, had come to his conclusions, according to Alligood.

“Mr. Long stated that he and his staff had investigated all the allegations made and their investigation was unable to substantiate any of the allegations. He stated that he considered the investigation closed,” Alligood said.

Alligood also said that there would be no report issued on the state’s findings, as the State Auditor’s Office only issues an investigative-findings report when the allegations made are substantiated.