ACCOUNTING WOES IN PINAL COUNTY

Audit Rips Actions In Sheriff's Office

A state audit of the Pinal County Sheriff's Department revealed a litany of
accounting errors ranging from an incomplete firearms inventory to months
worth of drug-bust dollars sitting in an unlocked drawer.

The audit also concluded the department misspent state money, failed to
keep all receipts and carried too many credit-card accounts.

The state auditor general's recently released audit came at the request of
Pinal County Sheriff Roger Vanderpool, who succeeded longtime Sheriff Frank
Reyes in January.

The biggest deficiency involved the department's countywide narcotics task
force, which kept money for undercover operations in a cash box, according
to the report.

The unit also left $10,000 in drug-bust money in an unlocked desk drawer
for 11 months instead of depositing it in an interest-bearing account.

Vanderpool said the task force sergeant was disciplined and reassigned
because an internal investigation revealed the same problems. Task force
deputies also were reassigned.

Vanderpool said the internal investigation started before he arrived
because of rumors that cash was missing. All the money, however, was found
and accounted for.

He also hired a financial officer for the department to address other
accounting deficiencies. Among them:

The department misspent $25,736 in state Jail Enhancement Fund funds for
purposes that did not directly benefit the jail, for employee awards,
National Rifle Association dues and a photo identification system.

The department held too many credit-card accounts, with up to 200 cards
issued per account.