LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The fire department and ambulance service once run by former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel have been ordered to stop selling equipment, at least for now. 

New Chapel management was reportedly trying to sell just about anything that wasn't laid down. But a Clark County judge issued a temporary restraining order this week, stopping any sales of equipment. 

A new Board of Directors of Utica Fire and New Chapel EMS claim taxpayer money paid for the equipment, and want answers before anything is sold.

"They basically started stripping the firehouses," said Joe Jarles. "We gave them a vacate order and asked them to leave."

Jarles is the new president of the Utica Township Fire Department, which also includes New Chapel EMS. He is essentially taking over the position once held by Noel.

Noel served as Clark County Sheriff from 2015-23 and also led New Chapel Fire/EMS and the Utica Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Jarles has been on the job for about a month, long enough to start unraveling some questionable transactions.

"There seems to be a pattern that the taxpayers would pay off a piece of an apparatus, that apparatus would be given away, and then the receiving party would sell it," he said. "That doesn't pass the smell test." 

He is not saying that Noel, or others associated with New Chapel while Noel was in charge, sold equipment for personal gain. But he has questions.

Noel pleaded guilty earlier this week to using New Chapel EMS and Utica Fire money to fund a lavish lifestyle of fast cars, planes, expensive trips and more. He and his family charged more than $4 million on New Chapel EMS American Express credit cards. 

Then on Thursday, the new management discovered a mortgage signed by Noel.

"It was for a loan of $150,000, and Station Two was mortgaged through that loan," Jarles said. "We just found that out late yesterday, and we haven't had a chance to look into it."

The new Board of Trustees have also found pictures of Utica fire trucks that can't be accounted for.

"All I have right now is, we have pictures of fire trucks that say Utica Fire Department on the side of them. What we don't know is where they went. We don't know if they were sold legitimately, we are not sure," said Jarles. "But we do know that we found notes where Ford trucks were transferred from the ownership of the taxpayers to the firefighter's association."

A hearing scheduled for next week could make the temporary restraining order permanent. 

Noel's plea deal calls for a 15-year prison sentence. But the special judge in the case has not signed off on it. Before he does, he wants to hear from those who were victims of the former sheriff's fraud, to weigh whether that punishment is just.

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