Mathews law enforcement officials have shed more light on factors that led up to an investigation into the residency of a member of the county’s board of supervisors. The investigation found that she does reside in Mathews County. That board member, Melissa Mason, has responded to their comments.

Sheriff Mark Barrick, in response to questions from the Gazette-Journal, said that when a deputy went to Mason’s home in March for service of process (delivery of legal paperwork), the deputy was informed that, not only did a man at the residence say that Mason did not live at the address, but he told the deputy that she lived in Mechanicsville.

Since supervisors are required to be domiciled in the locality where they serve, the deputy brought the matter to Barrick’s attention, and Barrick passed along the information to Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Bowen. “It was at that point Mr. Bowen’s decision to investigate further or not,” said Barrick.

Bowen said that he spoke first with the d...