The annual audit of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office found a few issues, but also notes that a previous finding regarding inmate funds has been fixed.
UPDATE: On March 26, the sheriff sent us the following statement on this audit:
“As Sheriff, it is my responsibility overseeing the taxpayers' money and the operation of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office. Regarding the cash bond deposits, our office swiftly launched both criminal and internal investigations into these matters. The findings of our investigation have been forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for their review. Subsequently, corrective measures and rigorous protocols were improved upon to prevent any further issues.
"Concerning the uninsured bank balances totaling $585,099, please be aware that our office is currently working with our local bank to investigate this discrepancy in security pledges for public funds.” – Sheriff Tommy Romero
The audit, which you can read for yourself by scrolling down, had four findings.
The independent auditor found the Sheriff had discrepancies totaling $8,413 in the amounts recorded as deposits of cash bonds compared to the actual amounts deposited in the bank over an unknown period of time. The Sheriff conducted an internal investigation, but a specific employee at fault could not be determined.
In a related but separate finding, the auditor noted that the Sheriff failed to notify the District Attorney or the Legislative Auditor's office of the missing money as required by law.
The auditor also noted that the Sheriff had uninsured bank balances totaling $585,099. State law requires that bank balances be secured by federal deposit insurance or collateralized by the financial institution.
Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office lacked adequate segregation of duties over accounting functions; this is a very common finding that almost all but the largest governments have in their audits. It usually is due to not having a large number of employees handling accounting duties, and that was the case for the Iberia Parish Sheriff as well.
A previous year's finding about reconciling statements for inmates' accounts was resolved, the auditors noted.
Here's the audit:
