Sheriff brings unauthorized account into compliance

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The report was made by auditor Bill Smith with Crisp Hughes Evans.

General statutes state "that public moneys shall be deposited in an official depository designated and approved by the board," Smith said. "We noted that public moneys received by the Sheriff's Office had been deposited in an unofficial depository, and the account had been opened in the tax ID of an employee of the Sheriff's Department."

Another statute "requires all moneys received and expanded by the county be included in the budget ordinance," Smith continued. "The budget ordinance may be amended to include unanticipated revenues and expenditures. We noted that the revenues and expenditures in the Sheriff's Department had not been included in the budget ordinance."

Smith recommended that the checking account be closed and that control of the account be brought under the finance office.

Though not at the Dec. 7 meeting, Sheriff Jim Cruzan admitted that funds collected by his department have "for years" been deposited into a private checking account. His department collects revenues from handgun permits, the pay telephone, vending machines and the sale of cigarettes, which earned about $4 per carton, he said.

"If (inmates) wanted (cigarettes), they had to buy them from us because we don't put dope in them," the sheriff said, indicating that visitors have been known to bring illegal substances to jail inmates in cigarette packages. This ceased being an issue about two months ago, he said, when cigarette sales and smoking were stopped at the jail.

Average monthly deposits in the Sheriff's Department account of between $1,200 and $2,000 were found by the auditors during a routine check of departments that handle cash, Smith said. Some $30,000 worth of activity in the account was also noted this year alone, he said.

Purchases made with funds collected included such things as fans and commodes for the jail, paint, locks, carpet, a washing machine and dryer, TVs, VCRs, radios, computers and other office furniture. None of the expenditures seemed to be out of line, Smith said.

"Before I came in, this was never questioned under Sheriffs (Fred) Holcombe and (Bob) Allen," said Cruzan, who verified that the account was closed Monday. "I just never thought about it, to tell you the truth. I'd rather be in compliance anyway."

The sheriff will continue to have access to the funds through a line item in his budget, said county Manager Jay Denton. "The account has been closed, and Darlene (Fox) is working on adding it to the budget," Denton said during a special meeting of the board Tuesday.

Last week's audit report also included an unqualified opinion on the fair presentation of the county's financial statements, Smith said. The 1999-2000 tax collection rate was up slightly from the previous year at 95.48 percent. The average collection rate for similarly-sized counties is 96.53 percent, he said.

The county's general fund balance includes a required reserve of $2.7 million, leaving $6 million available for appropriation, which is approximately 25.1 percent. The average fund balance for similarly-sized counties was 28.38 percent for the previous year, Smith said. The audit report also pointed out no cases of non-compliance on nearly $30 million in federal and state awards of funds.

Due to a change in reporting HUD requirements, the audit contract with Crisp Hughes Evans was extended to Jan. 31. The audit was accepted as information but not formally approved by the board. That action is expected at a later date.

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