State audit describes questionable purchases

FAYETTEVILLE — A state audit has detailed $147,282 in questionable purchases over seven years by John Adams, former information technology director for Washington County.

Legislative Joint Audit found 318 purchases questionable, according to the report. The purchases were made from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2017.

The purchases were noted in late 2017 during the budget process, according to the audit. An employee in the county judge’s office “noted irregularities in line-item transfers and disbursements, as well as related supporting documentation,” according to the audit report.

Employees in the technology department initially identified $76,277 in disbursements made with a county purchasing card assigned to Adams, according to the audit. The information was turned over to the prosecutor’s office, which asked the Fayetteville Police Department to investigate.

County Attorney Brian Lester said Adams was on medical leave from October 2017 through the end of the

year. Adams returned equipment and other items valued at $4,411 after he resigned Jan. 4, according to the audit. He worked for the county since 2010 and was making $95,000 a year when he left.

The information technology director operates and maintains computer systems and other technology for the county, including handling Internet issues, internal systems, telephones and servers. Adams managed seven employees, and his department had a budget of about $1 million, according to the county.

Adams was arrested Feb. 13. He’s charged with felony theft of property. Police said then more than $30,000 of county property was missing or unaccounted for. Adams is set for a hearing Jan. 16 in Washington County Circuit Court.

Adam’s attorney, Joel Huggins of Springdale, said he only recently received a copy of the audit report, something he said has caused the case to move slowly. Huggins challenged the characterization the purchases were “questionable.”

“Obviously, Mr. Adams and I disagree with their conclusions,” Huggins said.

Most of the irregularities involved the use of a purchasing card, or P-card, according to the audit report. The report notes 296 purchases totaling $102,308 made on the card for which Adams was the registered user. The purchases included:

■ $53,542 for 162 purchases without a reasonable county purpose, including training, travel and other costs associated with obtaining IT certification.

■ $16,269 for 59 purchases shipped to Adams’ home.

■ $15,516 for 31 purchases for which the invoice appeared altered.

■ $13,920 for 31 purchases using the email address of a

business owned by Adams. ■ $2,603 for 11 purchases made on weekend days and after normal working hours. ■ $458 for two purchases with insufficient documentation.

The audit stated the questionable purchases were categorized for certifications, exam fees and training costs, including $43,590 in travel; $24,924 in equipment; $22,515 for training and reference books/DVDs; $5,474 for software; $5,396 for memberships; and $409 for a leather jacket and other clothing.

The audit also reviewed purchases made through the county’s claims process that included $44,974 primarily for equipment, software and training costs.

Lester said the county is making changes aimed at preventing a recurrence of the kind of purchases Adams is accused of making.

“We certainly want to make certain we’re doing everything possible to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Lester said.

The county initially considered eliminating but modified the proposal to require supervisor approval or approval by the county judge. The modification was made after Maj. Rick Hoyt with the Sheriff’s Office explained deputies and other employees frequently need to make purchases in advance of obtaining approval. Hoyt said the Sheriff’s Office has a process in place for reviewing and approving all purchases and hasn’t experienced any significant problems.

Some justices of the peace said reducing the amount of money departments can transfer between line items in their budgets without first obtaining Quorum Court approval is another step the

county is taking.

Eva Madison, justice of the peace for District 9, said the county should do all it can, but no system will be foolproof.

“As the county gets bigger and bigger, it gets harder to control things,” she said.

Bill Ussery, justice of the peace for District 4, said the larger problem is holding everyone accountable whatever rules and regulations are in place.

“There wasn’t the oversight that there should have been,” Ussery said. “That individual had a lot more freedom than he ever should have had.”

Ann Harbison, justice of the peace for District 14, said the county needs to put policies in place and then see that those policies are followed. She said the Quorum Court’s role shouldn’t be to micro-manage departments.

“I’m not sure the JPs can scrutinize everything,” she said.

Adams