Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen is facing criticism after spending roughly $3 million on a fleet of take-home electric vehicles while his office was also asking county officials for millions in additional funding.
According to a FOX 5 Atlanta I-Team report, Allen purchased 99 2023 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles for sheriff’s office employees. The vehicles were not bought for prisoner transport, patrol response, or criminal investigations. Instead, they were intended as take-home vehicles and a recruitment-and-retention perk for detention officers and other employees.
Allen defended the program, telling FOX 5 that he needed a way to fill vacant positions and that the incentive helped the agency go from roughly 40% staffing to fully staffed within six months. He argued that critics were turning what he viewed as a positive step into a political attack.
But the timing and execution of the purchase drew sharp scrutiny. FOX 5 reported that Clayton County did not yet have charging stations in place for the fleet, and some vehicles were seen sitting idle in a jail parking lot with dealer tags still attached. The I-Team said it counted 10 electric cars behind the jail that still had dealer tags, while county officials and residents questioned why taxpayer-funded vehicles were not being used.
The controversy came as the sheriff’s office was seeking additional money beyond its existing budget. FOX 5 reported that Allen’s budget was $44.3 million, representing about 15% of Clayton County’s general fund budget, and that the sheriff had repeatedly gone back to the Board of Commissioners seeking millions more. Those requests reportedly included money for jail lock repairs, jail repairs, body cameras, tasers, deputies, protective gear, and emergency funds to cover payroll and other shortfalls. See the related story about tax increase in Clayton County.
Commission Chairman Jeff Turner, who was running against Allen for sheriff at the time, criticized the spending and questioned the lack of infrastructure for the EV program. Turner told FOX 5 that there was no unlimited pool of money for repeatedly amending the sheriff’s budget, and he called the handling of the unused vehicles irresponsible.
One of the more troubling details from the FOX 5 report involved how the sheriff’s office tracked which employees had which vehicles. Allen reportedly showed the I-Team a dry erase board with car numbers and last names. Turner called that system “inexcusable,” questioning what would happen if the board were erased and asking where the backup record was.
Allen said some of the unused vehicles were supposed to be part of a pilot program for other county departments, but FOX 5 reported that there was disagreement over who initiated that plan and whether the sheriff’s office should have immediately set aside those vehicles instead of assigning them.
The controversy also played out during the 2024 sheriff’s race. WSB-TV reported that Allen was projected to win the June 2024 runoff against Turner, allowing him to remain Clayton County sheriff.
The sheriff’s office remains listed by Clayton County as being led by Sheriff Levon Allen.
This story is not about a criminal conviction. It is about public accountability, taxpayer spending, and whether a sheriff’s office facing budget pressure should spend millions on take-home electric vehicles before the county has the infrastructure and tracking systems needed to manage them properly.
For Clayton County taxpayers, the core question remains simple: was the EV fleet a smart staffing incentive, or another expensive example of poor judgment from an office already under financial and operational scrutiny?
