A state-funded training grant awarded to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office is now under scrutiny after records and interviews revealed that equipment purchased with taxpayer dollars was allegedly used for years by a private nonprofit closely tied to the same public officials who secured the funding.
At the center of the concern is whether the grant was presented to county leaders as a pass-through for that nonprofit, despite clear rules stating all assets belonged to the sheriff’s office. The questions go further—whether those publicly funded items were removed from county control, used at paid conferences, and only returned after concerns were raised.
Audit raises questions
The issue surfaced during a three-month investigation by Now Georgia, which uncovered audit records showing that equipment purchased with grant funds could not be located inside the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO). That discovery led back to a series of grants awarded beginning in 2021, under the administration of then–Sheriff Joey Terrell, totaling nearly $200,000, including a $100,000 Law Enforcement Training (LET) subgrant administered through the Governor’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC).
On paper, the grant was intended to support law enforcement training, specifically, hands-on, scenario-based instruction in use-of-force and de-escalation. But the application and supporting documents told a different story. While filed under HCSO, the narrative justification focused heavily on the Georgia Alliance of School Resource Officers and Educators, or GASROE, a nonprofit founded by Terrell and his former Chief Deputy, Murray Kogod, in 2019.
GASROE was incorporated in February 2020. It is listed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on the Internal Revenue Service website. GASROE (commonly referred to as “GASRO with an E”) is an offshoot of the Georgia Association of School Resource Officers, Inc., which was administratively dissolved in October 2020 after 25 years.
A four-page LET grant project summary repeatedly references GASROE and its GS3 training conference, while barely mentioning the sheriff’s office or the grant’s stated training goals. The document describes the purchase of equipment and materials to support the nonprofit’s annual conference and regional events, framing the effort as a “collaborative” one, with the sheriff’s office appearing only in passing.
Despite that framing, CJCC officials say the rules were clear; all assets purchased with the grant were to remain the property of the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.
That distinction is critical because county leaders now say they were told something different.
Were county officials misled?
“This grant was presented to us by Murray [Kogod] as a pass-through grant, whereas the BOC would receive the money and pass it through for GASROE’s use,” former Commission Chairman Bruce Palmer said.
County Manager Tim Sims echoed that understanding, saying he never saw the full grant packet before it was awarded.
“I only saw the budget documents; I was never shown the full grant,” he said. “After we started asking questions, they brought the grant packet because Commissioner Palmer had to sign off on it.”
Sims said Kogod and Terrell told him that it was a pass-through grant; however, he maintained that he understood the assets belonged to the county. He recounted an argument he said he had with Kogod and Terrell over the purchase of marketing material featuring only GASROE, saying he demanded that the material include HCSO branding to maintain some level of usability by the county.
The special conditions section of the grant, which Palmer signed, specifically states that all “supplies purchased with funds under this grant award shall vest in the agency that purchased the property.”
‘Don’t question the sheriff’
Habersham County’s current Interim Chief Finance Officer, Kiana Holden, handled many of the financial transactions for HCSO grants on behalf of the Board of Commissioners during Sheriff Terrell’s administration. She said she worked with Kogod on the LET grant, but said she was brought in late in the process and was also told the funding agreement was a pass-through grant.
“We have been told and led to believe ‘don’t question the sheriff,’” she said, regarding past spending. Holden said she had heard questions in the community about the relationship between GASROE and HCSO, but none had reached her office.
Now Georgia was unable to reach the county’s former grant coordinators, Morgan Evans and Lauren Long, for comment.
By the time the grant was awarded, more than $90,000 had been earmarked for equipment, including a shooting simulator, trailer, and audio/visual gear.
What happened next is where the paper trail and the physical evidence begin to diverge.
Missing equipment
In December 2022, Terrell announced he would not seek reelection. Three months later, the Habersham County Board of Education hired Kogod for the newly created position of chief of police for Habersham County Schools. When Sheriff Robin Krockum took office in January 2025, a routine review of grant-funded purchases revealed that several major items, including that $60,000 Inveris shooting simulator, were missing.
“I have not seen the equipment since I took office, but it’s my understanding it’s in the possession of GASROE,” Krockum told Now Georgia earlier this year. He added that he had been told the equipment was being used at the nonprofit’s conferences.
A source within HCSO, who has attended multiple years of the GS3 conferences, told Now Georgia earlier this year that the conference’s “Experiencing the Simulated School Emergency Event class uses the LET grant-purchased shooting simulator.”
The same was true for the audio and lighting equipment purchased through the grant. Images and firsthand accounts indicate those items were used during GASROE events, including its GS3 conference, at which agencies, including HCSO, are required to pay registration fees to attend. Kogod continues to serve as the organization’s executive director, according to the GASROE website.
It remains unclear under whose authority Kogod kept the equipment purchased through the sheriff’s office. He has not responded to Now Georgia’s requests for comment. When Now Georgia posed the question via text, “Just to make sure, you didn’t tell Murray that he could have the equipment,” and clarified that the understanding was “it still belongs to HCSO,” Terrell said, “Yes on both”.
The intersection between public and private
The connections between the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and the nonprofit run deep. GASROE was founded by Terrell and Kogod and initially listed the sheriff’s office address as its own. Over time, its leadership has included local educators and law enforcement officials, including Krockum, who said he supported the organization while serving as Demorest’s police chief.
“I was the Chief of Demorest at the time and believed supporting this organization made our school system stronger and could provide much-needed training for our area,” Krockum told Now Georgia.
Still, questions about the overlap between public resources and private operations persisted. Some sheriff’s office employees said they were required to assist with nonprofit-related work, while county officials acknowledged uncertainty about whether the arrangement was appropriate.
In an email dated Tuesday, April 30, 2024, more than a year after leaving the sheriff’s office, records show Kogod emailed then-Habersham County Grant Coordinator, Morgan Evans.
“We were supposed to finish ordering everything out of that grant a few months ago …” he said in the email sent from his school computer account during school hours. He continues, “I think we have until October of this year. But, we need to go ahead and complete the orders.”
Sheriff says all he received ‘was a tablecloth’
In June 2024, outside the LET grant period and more than a year after leaving the sheriff’s office, Kogod submitted a $16,000 order to Trade Show House, a company that produces customized banners, displays, and more. The invoice listed Habersham Central High School as the “ship to” address, but the billing was still sent to the Habersham County Board of Commissioners.
Kogod was sent the proofs of the work to be done by Trade Show House in August of 2024. Those proofs contain 5 renditions for GASROE materials and only one with the HCSO badge. In June and September of 2024, the county paid Trade Show House for the order.
When asked about those items, Krockum said, “The only thing I received was a tablecloth with the Sheriff’s badge on it.”
For county officials reviewing the situation after the fact, the explanation raised more questions than answers.
Palmer called the circumstances “suspicious” and said the situation could amount to “a misappropriation of equipment or supplies.” Sims went further, warning the issue could have broader consequences, calling it “a misuse of grant assets and grant money” and said “it could put us in jeopardy of not getting other grants.”
Holden agreed the assets “should have never left the county.”
The issue came to a head on April 17, when Krockum confronted Kogod about the missing equipment. Within hours, arrangements were made to return it. The simulator, audio/visual equipment, and some marketing materials were brought back that day. A missing iMac computer was returned three days later.
Unresolved matters
Even with the equipment back in county hands, the larger questions remain unresolved. CJCC is looking into Habersham’s use of both the LET grant and a separate GREAT grant tied to the sheriff’s office.
Now Georgia has also filed open records requests with GASROE and the Habersham County School System. The school system has begun responding. The nonprofit has not.
At its core, the issue is one of ownership and accountability. As Sims put it, the county owns the assets just as it owns patrol cars assigned to the sheriff’s office.
What happens next will be up to Sims and Sheriff Krockum. Although the equipment has now been returned—three years later—charges for the alleged misappropriation of funds or other possible offenses could still be considered. Even if no charges are filed, the loss to the sheriff’s office cannot be undone. Equipment intended to serve deputies and the community was, for years, out of their hands. Compounding that is the lost opportunity—thousands of dollars in grant funding that could have been used to purchase equipment the sheriff’s office actually needed.
“I have no use for conference lights, wireless microphones, and GASROE marketing materials,’ Krockum said.
Sims said he plans to consult the county attorney, and the case could ultimately be referred to the district attorney or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Both Terrell and Kogod declined further comment.
