When detectives received Jarrod Harrah’s permission to search his house in the early days of a maintenance department theft investigation, they found county owned or financed property in virtually every room, according to an investigative report.

His Cadillac also contained vehicle parts and detailing materials purchased with county money. Among items taken from the house: smoke alarms, security light fixtures, weed eaters, flooring, mowers, saws, portable air conditioner, a clock, a tankless water heater and traffic cones, an inventory list from investigators show.

A former Troy councilman, Harrah was a volunteer board member for several nonprofit groups; participant in other community organizations; sang with a band; was active in the local Republican Party; and had played Santa at local holiday gatherings.

His daytime job the past seven years was serving as Miami County’s facilities and safety director.

He’ll be spending at least the new few weeks in the Ohio prison system after sentencing Nov. 5 in county Common Pleas Court on convictions for theft in office and tampering with evidence and records. A judge ordered one year, but said he was prepared to release Harrah early under the court’s supervision.

Investigators said they might never know just how much county property was taken by Harrah, 40, who lived on Troy’s Main Street, a few blocks from the Courthouse. Sheriff’s detectives hauled away a couple of truckloads of property from the home now in foreclosure following searches Harrah consented to in late May and early June.

They also learned during the investigation about county property that Harrah gave to organizations or individuals, telling some they were gifts from the county.

Sheriff’s Detective Steve Lord reported Harrah did not update a department fixed asset inventory for at least four years and no oversight was performed by his bosses. That made it difficult to track tools, equipment, materials and other items purchased.

“Determining what is missing or the degree of fraud perpetrated by Harrah has proven difficult under these circumstances,” Lord wrote.

Special Prosecutor Andy Wilson of Clark County said a conservative estimate of county property recovered from Harrah’s house was $18,600 and much was returned to the county. If the county wants to receive payment for lost property, it would need to take action against Harrah in civil court, he said.

Investigators also found windows Harrah had custom made for his house and billed $1,656 to the county and bills for repair of personal vehicles, also paid with county dollars.

Lord said Harrah obtained money for unauthorized projects, such as the remodeling of the old power plant building across the street from the Courthouse for his maintenance headquarters, by padding the bills for legitimate projects and funneling the extra money to the remodeling.

In trying to explain his actions, Harrah said he had become addicted to pain medication following an injury “and that his life had been out of control due to his addiction and that he was not making wise decisions,” Lord said.

Just days after the sheriff investigation into the maintenance department was made public May 29, people started contacting the office about property they or someone they knew had received from Harrah.

In another case, cabinets removed from the county Veterans Service Office during a remodeling were taken to the local American Legion Post, where Harrah was a member and his team leader, Bruce Ball, was commander.

A veteran’s service office representative told investigators he suspected the cabinets had not been decommissioned as county property, just taken to the post.

Harrah admitted he also gave the Legion a 22-inch flat screen monitor owned by the county. The monitor was returned in June, but the cabinets stayed after it was determined they would have minimal value and would have been discarded by the county, Lord reported.

Summarizing the investigation, sheriff’s office officials wrote, “assets were not properly tracked, records as to expenditures were falsified, theft and unauthorized usage of county property occurred, gifts and gratuities were solicited and received from vendors, frauds were perpetrated by contractors, and questionable contract procurements were conducted.”

Information on contracts awarded by the county without competitive bids and gifts allegedly given by a vendor has been turned over to state auditors and the Ohio Ethics Commission.

The county commissioners, who Harrah worked for, have said little throughout the investigation. Each was interviewed by investigators and said they had no idea of Harrah’s actions.