New report from Auditor Fitzpatrick finds room for improvement in the Mercer County Sheriff's Office while giving the county an overall rating of "fair"

A new report issued today by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick finds several areas in the Mercer County Sheriff's Office that need improvement. The report, which gives the county a "fair" rating, also recommends improvements in the Public Administrator's Office and with the county's electronic communication policy.

"Overall the county is managed in an accountable and transparent manner, but there are several issues that need to be cleaned up in the Sheriff's Office to minimize the risk that taxpayer funds could be misused. The lack of segregation of duties increases the possibility transactions would not be accounted for properly or assets would not be safeguarded, and the incomplete list of seized property increases the possibility of key evidence being misplaced or seized property being lost or stolen," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "I'm glad to see the county has responded positively to our findings and is working to put our recommendations into place. These are important steps the county needs to take to be more effective, efficient, and accountable."

The audit report finds the Sheriff has not segregated accounting duties or performed adequate supervisory reviews of detailed accounting records. The Office Administrator is primarily responsible for receipting, recording, and depositing receipts; making disbursements; and billing for paper service. The Sheriff indicated there are no other administrative staff in the Sheriff's office to segregate the duties or review the work, and the Sheriff does not perform a documented review of the Office Administrator's work. In addition, the Sheriff's Office Administrator does not prepare bank reconciliations or monthly lists of liabilities for the general account. The report notes because there is not a list of liabilities, the Office Administrator cannot ensure money is available to satisfy all liabilities.

The audit also finds the Sheriff's office does not maintain a complete and accurate seized property inventory listing and does not conduct periodic physical inventories of seized property.  The report highlights how a new software system was implemented in April 2024 and during the transition, some information did not transfer. The Sheriff has not performed a reconciliation of the new system and the physical evidence to ensure all evidence is in the new system. A review of evidence sheets and evidence bins found not all items were properly recorded, including a pistol magazine, and bullets that were not recorded.

Other findings in the audit include the failure of the Public Administrator to file annual settlements timely, the county's electronic communication policy not being in compliance with the Missouri Secretary of State Records Services Division guidance on electronic messaging, and controls over the Sheriff's computers being insufficient.

The complete audit report is available here.

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