As KSPR news first reported Monday night, it appears public money is going to fix private roads in Wright County. Some people in the Mountain Grove Special Road District are fighting back against what they call the "good old boy system" of road repairs.

People who live in the Mountain Grove Special Road District are used to a bumpy ride. Mike Patchin says, “Our roads are nothing but dirt with holes in it." Patchin is a member of a citizens group that says road maintenance is unfair and dangerous. Not every road here is just fit for a four-wheeler. Some roads are smooth. The difference isn't exactly night and day but a group of Wright County citizens say unless you know a board member your road is rough. Patchin says, “I've seen better roads in construction sites." KSPR wanted to find out if the favoritism is true. We looked through dozens of receipts from the last year to find out which roads were getting fixed. We did find a pattern of road work leading to board members front doors. We asked the district's board president David Splain to explain. Splain says, “That has nothing to do with that at all. We have so much money to spend. We spend it on traffic count where there's more traffic." Road district foreman Sam Parsons says he’s never seen a traffic count or counted traffic. Parsons says, “It's wrong what their doing it's favoritism."

Tracking down the truth is hard because records are hard to find. Road district employees say the only records they keep are in a calendar handed out by a local bank. The employees write one to two word descriptions of their work. Employees say they only started doing that this year.

KSPR attended a heated road district meeting where the citizen's group confronted the board members. During that meeting we found a few more problems. One employee said he was hired without filling out an application, tax forms or taking a drug test. KSPR has been told the employee has been drug tested. As for the supposed favoritism, Splain says the board will talk about it.

CORRECTION: KSPR incorrectly identified Paul Gasperson as a Wright County Commissioner. Gasperson previously served as a member of the Mountain Grove Township before that form of government was abolished in 2001.