The Auditor General says the Department of Justice and Public Safety did not provide effective oversight in support of the responsibilities and legislative requirements of the Office of the High Sheriff.

Denise Hanrahan released her audit report on the Office of the High Sheriff today.

She says the office did not have the financial control processes or related staff competencies and staffing to fulfill its operational responsibilities for receiving and distributing court-ordered payments.

Hanrahan says while no error or fraud was detected through their sample testing, the risk of undetected error or fraud could have increased.

They were unable to determine whether the officer’s processes for building swipe card access and camera system operations were efficient from an administrative standpoint.

She says communication between the department and the Sherriff’s Office was “informal and undocumented” and the department was “slow to respond to critical financial reporting and vacay issues.”

As of April of 2020, annual audits had not been completed since 2017, and before January of 2022, there was “limited evidence to indicate that Justice and Public Safety took steps to seriously address” the issue.

Among Hanrahan’s recommendations is asking that the department set up a formalized oversight process, including a review of the relevant legislation to support the High Sheriff in the office’s responsibilities and legislative requirements.