Luallen Releases Audit of See the audit report for Full Details |
Crit Luallen |
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(Frankfort - July 28, 2008)
State Auditor Crit Luallen today released the audit of the 2007 financial statement of the Montgomery County Sheriff, Fred Shortridge. 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 Montgomery 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 disbursements. The Sheriff’s bookkeeper prepares all disbursements including payroll and records these payments in the disbursements ledger. The bookkeeper also prepares the quarterly financial report and monthly bank reconciliations. By not segregating these duties, there is an increased risk of misappropriation of assets either by error or fraud. In order to reduce this risk, the audit recommends the Sheriff or a person independent of disbursements reconcile the quarterly financial report and monthly bank statement to the receipts and disbursements ledgers. Approval should be documented on the bank reconciliation as well as the receipts and disbursements ledgers. The Montgomery County Sheriff, Fred Shortridge, responded, “This office agrees but it is impossible to do due to staffing.” 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. |
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