Feb 21, 2019 4 min read

Washington County taxpayers footed the bill for $1,500 worth of Tylenol that should have been billed to individual inmates at the county jail, according to an audit Controller Michael Namie released Wednesday.

The finding was part of a 10-page report on deficiencies uncovered during an audit, copies of which the controller distributed at a meeting of the Washington County prison board.

Although the audit period covered the last six months on 2017, the “free” Tylenol was handed out between August 2017 and February 2018.

Namie and his staff brought to light inadequate internal controls over financial transactions in the inmate welfare and inmate money accounts.

Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, who is also vice chairman of the prison board, questioned Warden Edward Strawn.

“Will you be putting together a plan for corrective action?” she asked and then directed, “Put in writing what you’ve already instituted and make sure all these items are addressed.”

Strawn said as he exited the prison board meeting, “We’ve made some changes, some checks and balances, basically, when moneys are collected to make sure things are entered in the computer correctly. We’ve made many corrections. We don’t even handle cash any more. Since I’ve become warden, I’ve introduced a lot of technology. We had some training issues that have since been taken care of.”

Strawn, who was promoted to warden in 2016, cited a high turnover rate among jail employees as one reason the controller found recurring problems, but he added, “The warden’s responsible. Period.

“There are many hands, but the warden’s responsible.”

The inmate welfare account comes from receipts covering commissary sales, phone service and commissions on phone calls, plus interest and miscellaneous income. During the audit period from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, receipts totaled $515,164.

The law states this money can be spent only on services and items that benefit the entire inmate population, so it provides for religious services, books, newspapers, videos and literature, phone service, cable television, uniforms, snacks and commissary and commissary-related office expenses totaling $472,011.

Deposits to the inmate money account were not made in a timely manner. For example, $15,996 accumulated in a secure, ATM-style machine before being deposited. This finding was also noted for the previous audit period.

Transfers from the inmate money account to the inmate welfare account for phone commissions, medical expenses, underwear, shoes and commissary purchases were not made in a timely manner. As of Dec. 31, 2017, the amount due was $307,532.

“That transfer has since been done,” Namie said.

“Failure to do so increases the risk that errors or irregularities will go undetected, resulting in a loss of funds,” the report noted. “Errors or discrepancies should be brought to management’s attention immediately. We recommend that management review and sign off on all bank reconciliations.”

Namie noted the inmate welfare fund as of Dec. 31, 2017, contained $1,070,194. By law, this money cannot be used to maintain the jail or hire staff.

The inmate money account comes from deposits made, for example, by family members to be used by individual inmates at the cashless commissary. Amounts remaining when an inmate is released from the jail are to be issued through a debit card.

The audit discovered that inmates were being given pocket change rather than debit card refund, a system that was put in place so that a petty cash fund would no longer be necessary.

“Circumventing the system by issuing cash refunds only results in inmate accounts not being cleared in the system, thereby causing the system to be out of balance,” Namie noted.

The county is permitted to collect an administrative fee that covers part of the salary of the staff member responsible. The audit determined, however, that the fee was not remitted to the county as required.

“In some months, the administrative fee was not remitted at all, and in other months, the fee was calculated incorrectly,” according to the audit.

“As of Dec. 31, 2017, the county was due $23,957. This amount was remitted to the general fund on Jan. 7, 2019.”

The administrative fee should be calculated accurately and remitted monthly to the county, Namie said.

If the automated accounting system used at the jail cannot be corrected, “the entire system may need to be cleared and restarted with correct balances,” the controller noted.

Namie also reported the jail had not reconciled bank statements monthly with its ledgers for the inmate money and welfare accounts since February 2017. The same finding was noted in an audit covering Jan. 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017.