Auditor Galloway flags missing records in audit of Madison County

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released an audit of the government of Madison County, located in Southeast Missouri. The audit raised concerns with operations in the prosecuting attorney and sheriff's offices, and with county vehicle and fuel records.

The audit found a substantial number of records were missing from the prosecuting attorney's office, including all accounting records from 2011 through 2014. The current prosecuting attorney indicated the records were missing when he took office in January of 2015, although the previous prosecuting attorney said all records were left in the office. Because financial records are missing, the prosecuting attorney's office has $30,000 in bank accounts that it cannot identify where it came from or where it belongs.

The audit also found the sheriff's office did not provide adequate oversight for  commissary operations. The sheriff operates a jail and maintains a commissary for  inmates  to purchase snacks and personal hygiene items. The commissary officer is responsible for tracking inventory, making deposits and maintaining accounting records, but there is no independent review of these duties. Auditors found receipts were not consistently issued, and the commissary account was not balanced at the end of each month. In addition, state law requires proceeds from county jail commissaries to be deposited into the county Inmate Prisoner Detainee Security Fund, held by the county treasurer. In Madison County, the profit is currently either left in the commissary account, or deposited into a separate account, which is maintained by the sheriff, not the county treasurer, as required by law.

Auditor Galloway's report also identified deficiencies in data security for the property tax system, and recommended the county restrict access to some information. The audit also makes recommendations to  improve tracking of vehicle and fuel use by the road and bridge department and sheriff's office.

The complete report, which received an overall performance rating of "fair," is available here.