Luallen Releases Audit of
Harrison County Sheriff’s Office



See the audit report for Full Details

Crit Luallen
Auditor of Public Accounts
105 Sea Hero Road, Suite 2
Frankfort, KY 40601

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(Frankfort - August 6, 2008) State Auditor Crit Luallen today released the audit of the 2007 financial statement of the Harrison County Sheriff, Bruce Hampton. State law requires the Auditor to annually audit the accounts of each county sheriff. In compliance with this law, the Auditor issues two sheriff’s reports each year: one reporting on the audit of the sheriff’s tax account and the other reporting on the audit of the fee account used to operate the office.

The audit found that the Sheriff’s financial statement presents fairly the revenues, expenditures, and excess fees of the Harrison County Sheriff in conformity with the regulatory basis of accounting.

As part of the audit process, the Auditor must comment on non-compliance with laws, regulations, contracts and grants. The Auditor must also comment on material weaknesses involving the internal control over financial operations and reporting.

The audit contains the following comment: the Sheriff’s office lacks adequate segregation of duties over receipt and disbursements. During the review of internal control, auditors found the Sheriff’s office has a lack of adequate segregation of duties over receipts and disbursements. The person primarily responsible for handling receipts also records receipts in the ledger and prepares bank deposits. Additionally, the same individual is responsible for preparing and recording disbursements and signing checks, as well as preparing monthly reports and bank reconciliations. Having the same employee perform these functions increases the risk that errors or fraud may go undetected. The Sheriff could mitigate these risks by implementing the following compensating controls:

  • The Sheriff should periodically compare the daily bank deposit to the daily checkout sheet and then compare the daily checkout sheet to the receipts ledger. Differences should be reconciled. The Sheriff should document his review by initialing and dating the bank deposit, daily checkout sheet, and receipts ledger.
  • The Sheriff should periodically perform surprise cash counts and recount cash. The Sheriff should document this by initialing the deposit ticket.
  • The Sheriff should periodically compare invoices to payments, documenting this by initialing the invoice.
  • The Sheriff should require dual signatures on all checks, with one required signature being the Sheriff’s.
  • The Sheriff should periodically compare the bank reconciliation to the balance in the checkbook. Differences should be reconciled. The Sheriff should document his review by initialing and dating the bank reconciliation and the balance in the checkbook.
  • The Sheriff should compare the quarterly financial report to the receipts and disbursements ledgers for accuracy. Differences should be reconciled. The Sheriff should document his review by initialing and dating the quarterly report.

The Sheriff’s responsibilities include collecting property taxes, providing law enforcement and performing services for the county fiscal court and courts of justice. The Sheriff’s office is funded through statutory commissions and fees collected in conjunction with these duties.

 

Crit Luallen
Auditor of Public Accounts
105 Sea Hero Road, Suite 2
Frankfort, KY 40601
WEB: www.auditor.ky.gov/