Misappropriation of funds and mistaken or undetected accounting errors led to an undetermined amount of missing money from 2007-2012 at the Tulsa County Jail, according to a new state audit released on Monday.
State auditor Gary Jones’ office found few records during the years 2007 and 2008. During the years 2009-2012, auditors discovered many receipt books and drawer reports were missing. Receipts books were filed in random order, and many were unreadable.
Additionally, the report states that a Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office corporal admitted to misappropriating an estimated $1,000 a month for about 12 months. The corporal resigned in March 12, 2013.
“In addition to funds allegedly missing due to that misappropriation, other issues were identified that have contributed to unaccounted for funds, and continue to contribute to an environment lacking internal controls and oversight,” the report states.
For example, cash that did not exist was deposited into inmate accounts on several occasions, duplicate inmate accounts led to erroneous balance amounts, and inmates were paid money they were not owed. Furthermore, management at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office either ignored or dismissed concerns about the lack accountability of inmate trust funds at the jail.
The audit also found that inmate trust accounts were not reconciled.
Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler requested Jones perform the audit. According to The Tulsa World, Kunzweiler said he was disappointed in the audit’s findings and is reviewing the report to determine if there are “criminal matters to pursue.”
The report highlights issues that occurred during the time of former sheriff Stanley Glanz. Current sheriff Vic Regalado told The Tulsa World that he began to fix the problems when he took office in 2016.
The Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, now has better internal controls and segregation of duties so no single employee is responsible for the inmate account, Regalado said. He added that relevant software upgrades will be in place by the end of the month. The sheriff said the audit makes clear that there’s a “high probability” that many inmates left jail with more money than they came in with, meaning others were short-changed. He said he’s not certain that the Sheriff’s Office “will ever truly be able to rectify” the unaccounted-for money. “It was just a gigantic mess, to put it plain and simple,” Regalado said.
