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Sheriff Alyshia M. Dyer (Official photo)
Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia M. Dyer, who was elected in 2024, is blasting the county for hiring a high-priced law firm to investigate a roach — the butt of a marijuana joint — that was found in her county-issued vehicle.
She says it wasn't hers.
MLive, citing three unnamed sources, reported Thursday that a staff member reported finding the cigarette on the driver’s seat when the assigned SUV was turned in to exchange it for another vehicle in June 2025.
On Thursday, Dyer posted on Facebook.
"Heads up: If you read MLive today, you’re most likely going to see an article about a “Jeeter” weed roach that was found in a WCSO vehicle, one that was no longer issued to me," she wrote on Facebook.
"Here’s the deal: Last year, the County hired Dykema Gosset, PLLC, a Texas-based commercial law firm, to conduct an "investigation" (if you want to call it that) into this matter, which found no evidence of wrongdoing. The findings weren’t surprising: 1) I don't smoke weed -- and 2) I definitely would not smoke a "Jeeter" brand weed roach! Just hard pass."
She noted in the post that when the vehicle was turned in she was in New York for training, and said the law firm's investigation and the subsequent report was flawed.
"I did not have the vehicle," she wrote. "This isn’t mentioned at all – it looks like they didn’t bother to look at schedules to see who had access to the vehicle during this timeframe. (That seems pretty relevant to an investigation!) Dykema did not interview the staff member that returned the vehicle while I was absent — the last known person who was in the vehicle — and the report shows that they only interviewed two staff members over the span of June through November of 2025."
While recreational marijuana is legal in Michigan, MLive reported that county policy prohibits the possession or use of drugs, including marijuana, while on duty or in county vehicles. Michigan law prohibits consuming marijuana while operating a motor vehicle.
The sheriff went on to criticize the law firm's investigation.
"Because it appears it took six months to interview two people, when the WCSO attempted to do a proper investigation afterward, the security camera footage showing who may have accessed the vehicle while it had been sitting parked after it was returned was no longer available. (Oops.)"
She also criticized Katie Scott, chair of the County Commission, writing that she "decided to put funding for food and healthcare for people who are incarcerated in our county jail in an escrow account, calling for budget cuts, citing how constrained the county budget was."
"But apparently there’s money to hire a high-power corporate law firm to investigate an elected official you disagree with as part of a petty grudge? How much of the more than $360,000 that the County gave to Dykema in 2025 went to pay for this one-sided beef?"
Commissionier Scott, in a statement to Deadline Detroit, said:
"Oversight is not a 'beef.' It is part of governance."
"When serious concerns are raised involving public institutions, elected officials have an obligation to take them seriously and ensure they are reviewed appropriately. Independent inquiries exist for a reason: they provide analysis outside internal chains of command and outside political pressure. That is not retaliation. That is accountability."
"The Board of Commissioners does not function as an autocracy, nor do I. Decisions are discussed collaboratively with fellow commissioners, legal counsel, administration, and others. Independent review was not some extreme response; in many ways, it was the most measured and responsible one available given the seriousness of the concerns raised."
