Ingham County's evidence room was a mess for years according the county prosecutor's report.
"A colossal failure in leadership," Ingham County Sherriff Scott Wriggelsworth said.
"It was unacceptable, it was inappropriate, and as the county commissioners mentioned, it's embarrassing for them,” Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon said. “It's embarrassing for law enforcement, the prosecutor's office but now we move forward."
The prosecutor's office offered a list of solutions like better systems for tagging and handling evidence. Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth says he's working hard to fix the problems and keeping a close eye on the evidence room to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"Every time we check enough evidence into the evidence room, we're going to audit that entire case, each and every case, every month," Sheriff Wriggelsworth said.
Not only that, but the prosecutor's office will be double checking the sheriff office's work.
"We will be following up with their audits,” Siemon said. “We don't typically do that with law enforcement agencies, but because of the need for public trust and to make sure this is really is not a problem."
The county commissioners are happy the solutions are already in the works.
"I think we're absolutely on the right path and everybody's got the right attitude," Ingham County Commissioner Carol Koenig said.
"We can put it to rest. I think my mind is a little more at ease," Ingham County Commissioner Teri Banas said.
The sheriff and prosecutors plan to meet regularly with the committee to keep them updated and to address any other concerns.
