Report No. 2009-74
July 2009
Complete Audit Report

Findings in the audit of Cooper County

Sheriff's Compensatory Time
The current Sheriff had a balance of 1,225 hours of compensatory time that was earned while he was a deputy. Upon becoming Sheriff, the Sheriff and County Commission entered into a verbal agreement that the Sheriff would not seek payment for his compensatory time earned as a deputy. However, this agreement and the nonpayment of compensatory time earned while he was a deputy may be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Allocation of Costs
The county has not documented its basis for transferring amounts from the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) Fund to the Enhanced 911 (E911) Fund for salary and benefit costs. The county pays the salaries and benefits of most employees in the E911 Center from the E911 Fund and transfers monies from the LEC Fund to the E911 Fund to reimburse for the non-emergency dispatching performed. In addition, the county has no documentation to support the reasonableness of costs shared by the E911 and the General Revenue Funds for the salary of one employee performing services for both funds. No timesheets are prepared and the county has no record of actual time spent by this employee in performing the duties related to the two county funds. Similar conditions were noted in our prior report.

Disbursements
The county does not have a formal policy regarding reimbursement to Sheriff deputies for use of their personal cellular phones for county business. A cost analysis of leasing versus purchasing a 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle to determine which method was the most cost effective was not performed. The motorcycle was purchased for $13,500 and does not appear to be an efficient use of public monies as leasing was significantly less than purchasing. Records of fuel use by the Road and Bridge Department are not adequately reviewed, and gallons purchased are not reconciled to gallons dispensed as recorded in fuel logs. In addition, the logs contain no information regarding odometer or operating hour readings with which to review the reasonableness of the fuel use. Inventory records and a log of plat books sold or given away are not maintained.

Capital Assets
The County Commission has not established a written policy related to the handling and accounting for capital assets. Procedures and records to account for county property are not adequate. Although the County Clerk does maintain capital asset lists for each office, the lists are not complete and procedures have not been established to ensure their accuracy.

Sheriff's Accrued Costs
Procedures related to the monitoring of unpaid accrued costs for jail board billings, jail medical billings, and mileage reimbursement for serving criminal and civil papers are not adequate. By not adequately monitoring unpaid accrued costs, these costs could remain uncollected and may result in lost revenue.

Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov