A small Tennessee school community is at the center of a story that has now gone national. Rachel Sawyers, the wife of newly elected Carroll County Sheriff Eric Sawyers, was arrested Monday on charges of theft over $1,000 and fraudulent use of a debit card, according to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office. Investigators say that while she served as treasurer and vice president of the Clarksburg School PTO, she used the organization’s debit card for personal Amazon and Walmart purchases totaling at least $1,490 without board approval.
Sawyers resigned from the PTO in November 2025. According to investigators, she admitted the purchases were for personal use and later deposited $2,039 of her own money back into the group’s account. An additional $2,181 in transactions was also flagged as questionable. Her arrest came roughly two weeks after her husband was sworn in as sheriff on Aug. 31, following his election win on Aug. 6. She is due in court on Sept. 25.
The story resonates well beyond Tennessee. Here on the Suncoast, thousands of families volunteer with school groups, booster clubs, and nonprofits that run on trust and small budgets. The lesson isn’t that volunteers can’t be trusted. It’s that every organization handling money benefits from simple safeguards: dual signatures, regular audits, and transparent reporting. When those guardrails are missing, a school with about 300 students can lose money that was meant for field trips, supplies, and kids.
What safeguards does your local school group use to protect its funds? Let us know in the comments.
