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Monday, September 17, 2018

Blast from the past for Sheriff Gene Mitchell and the Leviticus Group

Blogger Comments:  Ole Sheriff Gene sounds like he may have taken some lessons about raising money from Preacher Oral Roberts.  If you folks recall it didn't work well for Oral Roberts either.  So! Sheriff Mitchell wanted to fight corruption and needed money to do it.  Surely he used the money he took from the inmate food funds to further his fight against crime in Lawrence County.  

LEVITICUS: Why did Mitchell resign and Rhegness retire if they wanted to fight corruptions, should have stayed and fought.

Citizens take biblical name for group targeting corruption.
Birmingham – A group of men have taken a page from the Bible, forming the watchdog group to investigate tips about corruption in Alabama government.
     The nonprofit Leviticus Group, formed in February, will pass along its finding to the media or law enforcement agencies.
     “We want folks to do right, that’s all we ask,” said Gene Mitchell, a former director of the Department of Public Safety and one of the founders of Leviticus.
     They got their name from Leviticus, one of the five books of the Bible attributed to Moses. Leviticus 19:11 reads, “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.”
     So far the board consists of Mitchell, retired Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent Bill Rhegness and Autaugaville businessman William Bellungrath.
     “What we intend to do is keep an eye on the fox and keep an eye on the financial mischief involving tax dollars,” Rhegness said. “It’s the public’s money and we believe they have an inherent right to know how it’s spent.”

     The Leviticus board will decide which tips to investigate, Rhegness said.  Any findings that indicate criminal wrongdoing will be turned over to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The group will notify the media or file a civil lawsuit if it finds something that isn’t criminal but appears unethical.
     Mitchell and Rhegness said many state troopers and citizens brought them complaints about large scale fixing of traffic tickets in the fall of 1999. Mitchell said he found stacks of copied tickets on his doorstep.
     He and Rhegness approached Siegelman administrations officials but gave the information to reporters when the activity didn’t stop, Mitchell said.
     The scandal led Siegelman to fire his director of public safety and temporarily suspend three staffers.
     Jim DeBardelaben, a Montgomery lawyer who is the group’s legal counsel, said Leviticus will give public employees a place to anonymously report problems with fear of retribution. Members say the group will check out tips from city, county and state government, and for any amount of misspending.
     “Dimes quickly become dollars,” Rhegness said.
     Two state officials involved in investigating corruption welcomed the watchdog group’s efforts.
     “I always welcome individuals who have an interest in promoting honest government and assisting law enforcement agencies in rooting out public corruption,” Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor said.
     “As long as we just remember the old principle that you’re innocent until proven guilty,” he added.
     Jim Summer, director of the Alabama Ethics Commission, said his only concern is that the group be responsible and take its findings over to the proper authorities.
    “But I think we all would welcome anybody who would look at these things and point them out,” he said.
     Leviticus is looking for donations to fund its investigations, though Rhegness said it won’t accept money from candidates or political parties. He and Mitchell believe they need about $300.000.00 to move operations out of their homes into offices in Montgomery and north Alabama.


  1. What the crap? This is some crazy shit here, when was this? Can this man not do anything thats not about money, money, money!

    1. September 2002, The Gasden Times.

    2. The Gadsden Times, September 2, 2002, Associated Press, just read original article on line. This was a messed up group. Now someone is having to watchdog the high sheriff!

  2. Let me get this strait, mitchell resigned his position as dps director, a paying state job to form a group to fight corruption with no money and needed people to send him money to do this? Maybe it is just me but that is crazy as hell! Something not right with this picture, a blind man could see that.


  4. Let's take the highlighted sections one at a time, before we begin, it said non profit group was formed in February of 2002, which contradicts with article that said group took fixing ticket isues to the sigleman administration in 1999, so did the group form in 1999 or 2002? Are they fibbing right out of the gate. You would have thought mitchell would have been cautious about forming these groups after what happened in 1995 and 1996 which appeared to have costed him big time in 1996. Also I thought gene was a democrat and here he is going after don siegleman, which he did work for republican fob james. May not know which side of the fence he is on.

  5. As you read the Leviticus article from the Gadsden Times, AP Sept 2, 2002 fast forward to today, and the easiest way to sum it up as it relates to their positions then and positions now as it relates to inmate food money and the sheriff's dept budgets, what was right then is wrong now and what was wrong then is right now. We will try and point out some of those over the next several days.

  6. I agree with the lead in to this article, why did mitchell resign in 1996 from a state law enforcement job that would have allowed him to investigate anything state wide and since he was Rhegness boss he could have assigned him any case he wished. But Mitchell resigns (???) And Rhegness retires. Why didn't they just keep their jobs and do what they were trying to do with this group? On top of that they do sound like a tv preacher I quit my paying job to do this now I need you to send me $300,000.00 to do it. You had your chance but choose to resign why? 300K!

  7. "It's the public's money and we believe they have an inherent right to know how it's spent." According to Leviticus group in 2002.
    But Mr. Mitchell does not believe this in 2018 when it applies to the publics tax dollars that pay for the feeding of inmates in a county jail. Funny how things change when your the fox, right Mr. Mitchell?
    Now Mr. Mitchell has argued it is none of our business what he makes because it is paid to his social securry number, well Mr.Mitchell let me ask, the check that you get every two weeks from the lawrence county commission, is it paid to your SSN, is your SSN at the top of the pay stub? Yes it is. Now that money is public information and has been reported above 64,000 per year. So my question Mr. Mitchell, why is one part of money you receive to your SSN is public while the other part paid to your SSN is not? Could it be because you are making a lot of money off inmate feeding just like every other single sheriff who's records have been made oublic? You scared for us to see how much you making off inmate food money? ����������������

    1. Well well well, so when he (Mitchell) was on the outside as liviticus after he resigned as dps director he gets director fired in 1999, hum! He operates on a double standard, when he is outside looking in he wants everything open and public but when he is the one on the inside it's non of our business.

    2. These sheriff's are making a killing off this jail food money. If they were losing a dime they would be releasing records and showing everone. They want to keep it top secret because they don't want us to know all the money they making. That's why he got stutts to kill the jail food bill in lawrence county. The dogs being fed good. Release your jail food records if your not making a killing.

    3. Got have all that money to take care of the family working up there, two brothers chief deputy colonel kenneth mitchell and captain curtis mitchell. Let's see, sheriff is drawing full state retirement from the state, full salary as sheriff and all left over jail food money and allowance money. 3 pots of money coming in at one time but he did it for the kids! Sounds like someone is peeing on our leg and telling us it is raining! All these lies.