Cocke County, TN (WOKI / WVLT) – An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office results in a former School Resource Officer in Cocke County being indicted.
The investigation began last December after officials with the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office reported questionable activity by Leahla Hance, who served as the SRO at Centerview Elementary School during the fall 2024 semester.
Investigators determined that Hance falsified timesheets to receive pay for days she did not work and reportedly failed to report to school on at least 24 days.
On 16 of those days, she submitted timesheets indicating full workdays which resulted in her receiving almost $3,000 in questionable wages.
Hance resigned from the department in February and was indicted on forgery, official misconduct and theft of property among other charges.
“Supervisors must ensure they verify employee timesheets before approving them for payment,” said Comptroller Mumpower. “Monitoring SRO activity and using the department’s vehicle GPS technology can strengthen oversight and prevent misconduct.”
Hance resigned from the department on Feb. 25, 2025, and she was indicted by a grand jury on the following charges:
- Forgery over $2,500
- Destruction, tampering or fabrication of a government record
- Official misconduct
- Theft of property over $2,500
Cocke County Sheriff CJ Ball sent WVLT News the following statement regarding Hance’s indictment:
The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office has policies in place of ethical violations and taught regular in our annual in-service training. Law enforcement officers are held at a higher standard and we have 0 tolerance for violations once something is found. As the sheriff, I must apologize for the actions of this former officer and this is not what we stand for in our profession. It is our job to protect the integrity of what we stand for and to ensure that we are following the laws that we are sworn to uphold. Since our office found the violations and misconduct of this former officer, we have added a full-time supervisor that is responsible to monitor the day-to-day operations more efficiently, assigned patrol vehicles have GPS tracking devices to monitor, and each officer is required to contact dispatch at the beginning and end of each of shift on the radio to record their presence. We want to thank our administration for the internal review and investigation, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, the 4th District Attorney General’s Office of James Dunn, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Bond was set at $5,000.00 and the defendant was arrested without incident and transported to the Cocke County Correctional Facility for processing. Cocke County Sheriff CJ Ball
