State Auditor Fitzpatrick gives Ripley County a "fair" rating in new report

Two former members of the Ripley County Sheriff's Office are facing criminal charges for stealing guns from an evidence locker and now a new report from Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick reveals how the theft may have been aided by the office's failure to maintain accurate logs for seized property. The audit released today gives Ripley County, located in southern Missouri, a rating of "fair" and finds other issues in the Sheriff's Office, the Public Administrator's Office, and with the county's fuel use logs.

"It was big news in the area when the former sheriff and his deputy were charged with felony stealing for allegedly taking guns from the office's evidence locker, and now our report shows how they may have thought they could get away with it because of a failure to maintain an accurate seized property log for at least a decade. Seized property can consist of weapons, drugs, money, and any number of valuable items that, without question, need to be inventoried and logged to prevent this kind of theft from happening. Beyond that, the failure to keep these logs up to date even led to the prosecuting attorney dismissing a case because of missing evidence," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "Thankfully the new sheriff has made keeping an accurate inventory a top priority, which will play a key role in preventing theft like this from happening again."

The report notes a request for a seized property inventory log that was made in May 2024 resulted in the Sheriff's Office providing a list of 65 entries with seizure dates ranging from January 2012 through August 2014. Sheriff's Office personnel indicated the previous log was destroyed in an office flood in 2017 and efforts were made in January 2023 to recreate the log, but no further efforts were made to properly maintain the log and update it for new seizures and dispositions. Additionally, the prosecuting attorney indicated one case was dismissed due to missing evidence. The audit also found the Sheriff's Office does not issue receipt slips for all money received, use pre-numbered bond forms, or reconcile receipts to deposits. As the report notes, the failure to do so increases the risk that loss, theft, or misuse of money received could occur and go undetected.

Another finding in the report notes how county fuel use logs are not complete and maintained for all vehicles, reviewed for reasonableness, or reconciled to fuel purchases. The Road and Bridge Department maintains a log with the employee name, date, and gallons dispensed from each tank; however, the log does not identify the vehicle or equipment fueled and is not reviewed for reasonableness or reconciled to fuel purchases. Sheriff's deputies were required to maintain a log for each vehicle recording the daily odometer reading and gallons of fuel dispensed; however, the former sheriff did not maintain a log for his vehicle. The report notes that procedures for maintaining complete vehicle and equipment use and fuel logs, evaluating the reasonableness of the fuel use recorded on the logs, and reconciling fuel use to purchases are necessary to ensure vehicles and equipment are properly used; prevent paying vendors for improper amounts; and decrease the risk of loss, theft, or misuse of fuel going undetected.

Additionally, the report found the public administrator did not always file annual settlements timely. The audit judgmentally selected 10 of the 20 wards for review and noted the most recent settlement was not filed timely for 8 of the wards reviewed. Settlements for these 8 cases were filed 77 to 392 days after the due date. State laws require the Public Administrator to file an annual settlement with the court for each ward or estate. Timely filing of annual settlements is necessary for the court to properly oversee the administration of cases and reduce the possibility that errors, loss, theft, or misuse of funds will go undetected.

Other findings in the report include a mid-term salary increase authorized by the County Commission for the sheriff that violated constitutional provisions and a failure by the Senate Bill 40 Board to ensure a written agreement was renewed and amended with the not-for-profit (NFP) entity funded by the Board, as well as a failure by the Board to consistently comply with the closed meeting requirements of the Sunshine Law.

The full audit report is available here.