Report No. 2010-156
December 2010
Complete Audit Report

Findings in the audit of Laclede County

County Disbursements
The county did not solicit bids, retain sufficient documentation, or document emergency or sole source procurements for several items or services. Fuel records are not used to reconcile fuel purchases to fuel used, and mileage and fuel logs are not maintained by the Sheriff. Purchase orders were not always completed, signed by the preparer, and signed to document approval.

Sheriff Inmate and Commissary Procedures
The duties of receiving, recording, depositing, and disbursing monies related to the inmate trust account are not adequately segregated. The Sheriff maintains commissary commissions and phone card profits outside the county treasury and uses these monies to purchase items for the office and inmates. Commissary commissions and some phone card profits are not turned over to the County Treasurer. Monthly lists of liabilities are not prepared for the inmate trust account, and consequently, liabilities are not reconciled with cash balances. The county has not entered into a written agreement with the commissary vendor.

Public Administrator Controls and Procedures
Procedures for monitoring receipts and disbursements of wards need improvement. Our review identified weaknesses involving inaccurate annual settlements, calculation of fees, and duplicate payments.

Prosecuting Attorney Controls and Procedures
Duties are not adequately segregated and an adequate supervisory review of accounting records is not performed. In December 2009, the Prosecuting Attorney spent $4,988 from the Prosecuting Attorney Bad Check Fees Fund for a Christmas party for county and city law enforcement personnel and their guests. Additionally, adequate supporting documentation was not maintained for meal and cellular phone reimbursement claims paid from the fund.

Sheriff Controls and Procedures
The duties of receiving, recording, depositing, and disbursing monies are not adequately segregated. Concerns were noted regarding the receipting and depositing of monies. The Sheriff's office did not maintain adequate documentation for the disbursement of seized cash from the forfeiture account, and for the disbursement of a $15,000 cashier's check received as a bond.

Property Tax System
Personal property taxes totaling over $148,000 were outlawed and removed from the tax books during the 2 years ended February 28, 2010, without the approval of the County Commission. Employees of the Assessor's office use shared passwords to gain access to real estate assessment data.

Personnel Policies
Although the county has an established written personnel manual, not all issues are addressed and some polices are not included in the manual. The County has not established a formal policy regarding donated leave time; although some county employees donated leave to a co-worker. The county does not have a policy regarding the employment and supervision of related employees. Although the county has a policy regarding background checks, it is not included in the personnel manual. Further, background checks are not conducted for all county employees. Commission meeting minutes in April 2010 indicated the County Commission planned to update the cellular phone usage policy; however, the personnel manual does not include such a policy.

Closed Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes were not sufficient to demonstrate how some issues discussed in closed session were allowable under the Sunshine Law.

Senate Bill 40
The Senate Bill 40 Board (SB 40) does not provide adequate oversight of the accounting functions performed for the SB40 Board Fund. In addition, a quorum of Board members was not physically present during telephone votes, and budgets were not filed with the State Auditor's office for 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov