'SHADOW' DRUG MONEY

AUTHORITIES CONFISCATED about $12 million in cash and private property in
Georgia in 2001 from criminals who were dealing drugs in the state. That's
an impressive haul. Unfortunately, lawmen are better at taking these
ill-gotten gains than accounting for how they're spent.

That's not just sloppy money management during a time when public dollars
are especially tight. It's a recipe for hanky-panky -- if not worse.

Indeed, a critical state audit of how millions of dollars are being used --
or, in some cases, misused -- is alarming. Money seized from drug dealers
should be spent to fight crime and improve public safety. It shouldn't be
used, as auditors discovered, as shadow money to pay for Christmas parties,
cookouts, flowers or golf tournaments -- or possibly other dubious things
hidden from the public.

State lawmakers asked State Auditor Russell Hinton last year to find out
how state and federal officials handled property forfeitures in Georgia.
They were concerned that state-funded agencies, like the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation and Georgia State Patrol, did not process any forfeiture
cases involving cash under state law. Consequently, the state's general
fund, where this money would go, didn't get a dime.

At the same time, however, the GBI and State Patrol maintained large cash
reserves -- $1.8 million for the GBI and $4.7 million for the State Patrol
- -- of funds forfeited in federal drug cases.

Lawmakers who asked Mr. Hinton to follow the money trail may have been
motivated by some self-interest. If no money flowed into the general fund,
they couldn't spend it. Still, their question is valid: Where is it going?

Nobody knows. At least not for sure. Mr. Hinton's auditors visited 26 of
the 229 local law enforcement agencies that received money from state
forfeitures. What they discovered should make alarm bells sound in the
Georgia Legislature, as well as inside many city halls and county courthouses.

They found that 22 of these agencies didn't submit an annual report on
their cases to their local governing board -- their city council or county
commission, for example -- as required by law. Whether this lapse is the
result of lackadaisical bookkeeping or an intent to mislead, no one knows.
But for budgeting purposes, city councils and county commissioners must
know how much their police and sheriff's departments are getting.
Meanwhile, five agencies got money directly from the forfeitures without
any of it passing through their governing boards. That also goes against
the law. Nine agencies kept that money in house, not in interest-bearing
accounts where the funds could be monitored.

You don't have to be a CPA to see the dangers lurking here. If local police
and sheriff's departments are receiving drug money directly, and not
reporting those proceeds to those responsible to voters for approving their
budgets, the opportunity to set up slush funds or engage in other abuse
abounds. Clearly, Georgia needs a better way to track state drug money. And
not just to keep everyone honest, but to make sure this money goes where
it's most needed.

State Rep. Burke Day, R-Tybee Island, has proposed a sensible first step.
He introduced a resolution last week (HR 264) that would create a committee
to draft legislation that would fix the problem. The task shouldn't be
difficult. Georgia could look at how other states account for drug money,
then choose the best system.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and leaders of the House and Senate who are scrambling to
balance a difficult state budget should embrace this effort as well. The
state pays big bucks to help prosecute and incarcerate criminals. It's only
fair that tainted money be used to help cover this substantial cost. But
until the state can reap this side benefit, it first must find it.