Walton County Sheriff Ralph Johnson was notified by the Florida Commission on Ethics that the complaint that had been filed against him by Carol Purdy, alleging that Johnson had used public funds to alter the election in his own race, had been dismissed.
According to Purdy’s complaint, during the recent election campaign season Sheriff Johnson notified Bill Imfeld, a candidate for sheriff and the Walton County Commission’s finance director, that he (Imfeld) appeared to be in violation of The Hatch Act, which provides, among other things, that no government employee handling or overseeing the disbursement of federal funds may run for office while holding that job. Imfeld dropped out of the race rather than resign from his job.
According to a release sent by the sheriff’s office, the complaint filed by Purdy has been dismissed for lack of probable cause of wrong doing.
Purdy had also filed the same complaint with the State Commission on Elections, which recently notified Johnson that the complaint against him was being dropped for the same reason.