Investigation clears Granite Shoals officials of fund misuse allegations
Assistant City Manager/Fire Chief Tim Campbell (left) and City Manager Sarah Novo have been cleared of allegations regarding misuse of funds. File photos
The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office has cleared two Granite Shoals officials of any wrongdoing following a months-long investigation into accusations of misuse and misappropriation of funds from the city’s former finance director.
The original accusations came from ex-finance director Kevin Rule, who was fired in January of this year. He alleged in December 2025 that City Manager Sarah Novo and Assistant City Manager/Fire Chief Tim Campbell were involved in an unapproved city manager pay increase, fraudulent fire department equipment purchases and travel reimbursements, other improper spending, and funding shortfalls.
Granite Shoals City Council voted in December to send the matter to the BCSO for an investigation rather than hire an outside firm.
According to the BCSO, the agency found no wrongdoing and the local District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue charges following the results of the investigation.
A letter issued to Campbell and Novo from BCSO Captain Thomas Dillard on Monday, April 20, read:
“As you are aware, this agency undertook an investigation into allegations that you misused or misappropriated funds and/or tampered with a government record. Our investigation, under case number BC26-0004, found no substantive basis for those allegations.
“Our of an abundance of caution, given that these allegations involve a matter of the public’s trust, we submitted the case to the 33rd/424th District Attorney’s Office for review on February 26, 2026.
“On April 17, 2026, we received a letter from the District Attorney’s Office under their case number DA-26-00139. That letter specified that their office was declining the charge(s).”
“With that determination, we consider this matter closed. Thank you for your cooperation with this investigation.”
Rule declined to comment on the investigation’s results.
Rule was hired in May 2024 after the finance director position had been vacant for nearly two years. He was terminated Jan. 14, the day he was scheduled to return from a mutually agreed paid administrative leave that began Dec. 22. Account specialist Debbie Jennings was terminated Dec. 23. Both positions remain vacant, according to the city’s website.