State & Local Reports

The Department of Internal Auditing (DIA) has conducted an audit of Sheriff's Office for the period January 1, 2024 - March 30, 2025, to assess the effectiveness and adequacy of procedures, controls, and compliance requirements for overtime worked.   The Sheriff’s Office was identified as an area to audit due to the risk assigned during our annual Risk Assessment. We conducted our review through inquiry, reviews of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), and testing overtime transactions. The audit included review and evaluation of procedures, practices, and controls as deemed necessary. 

Sheriff’s Office faces an ongoing challenge in balancing its public safety responsibilities with the need to manage overtime costs. In recognizing the importance of maintaining adequate staffing to ensure safety and operational continuity, DIA identified internal control weaknesses and opportunities for process improvement that may be contributing to increased overtime spending:
Pay rate increases alone accounted for over 60% of annual overtime cost growth.

• The following contributed to frequent staffing shortages and reliance on overtime: 
  • Corrections experienced a 16% average annual turnover rate, much higher than other divisions.
  • Increase use of leave time, with reduced vacation usage.
• Control weaknesses in overtime approval and documentation:
  • Overtime was mostly approved retroactively. 
  • DIA estimates up to $3.8 million in overtime may not have been properly supported during the audit period. 
• The Sheriff’s Office lacks consistent, department-wide policies for overtime assignment, approval, and documentation.
• Limited budget monitoring and reporting capabilities.
   

DIA provided the Sheriff’s Office with recommendations for improving management of overtime in the Sheriff’s Office.  The Sheriff’s Office was working to address the issues noted in this report during the audit.  Recommendations DIA made for the Sheriff’s Office included, but were not limited to: 

• Create formal, consistent policies and procedures for scheduling, timekeeping, and overtime management. 
• Establish formal procedures for pre-approving and documenting overtime across all divisions. 
• Train supervisors and staff on new procedures and expectations related to overtime approval, documentation, and monitoring. 
• Adopt a department-wide scheduling management system that integrates with the County’s timekeeping platform to improve
  oversight, reduce manual errors, and enhance transparency. 
• Incorporate financial analysis into overtime monitoring to identify inefficiencies and unusual trends, including monitoring of leave
  trends and overtime per position and unit. 

An audit was conducted to provide a comprehensive examination of the Clerk’s Office controls related to revenue receipt, disbursement of funds, and billings.  The Clerk’s Office processes are generally well managed.  However, DIA noted non-compliance, internal control weaknesses and areas of potential process improvement related to: 

• Insufficient Accounting of Book Balance
• Lack of Review of Unapplied Funds 
• Lack of Billing Review for Closed Cases
• Lack of Regular Bank Reconciliations
• Lack of Documented Review of Cashier Voids
• Outdated Policies and Procedures
• Lack of Segregation of Duties and Tracking
• Lack of Periodic Counts of Stored Cash
• Lack of Cashier Adherence to Policies and Procedures
• Lack of Chain of Custody for Money.
   

DIA provided the Clerk of Courts management with recommendations for improving the Clerk’s Office processes. DIA recommendations are provided during fieldwork allowing the department opportunity to remedy identified issues in a timelier manner. Recommendations DIA made for the Clerk’s Office management included, but were not limited to: 

•  Develop system reports to support the recorded book balance.
•  Regular review and application of unapplied funds.
•  Regular documented review of closed cases for potential billings.
•  Performing monthly bank reconciliations.
•  Regular documented review of cashier voids.
•  Revise Policies and Procedures where needed.
•  Implement segregation of duties over daily reconciliations and consistently track differences between actual collections and
   system balances.
•  Document periodic counts of stored cash.
•  Document employee acknowledgement of cash/checks received and transfer of cash/checks between divisions.
•  Periodically review user access and attempt to enable password security to system.