State panel to review report on an area police department

Audit of Prescott Police Department revealed nearly $40K potentially missing

A group tasked with promoting accountability of public resources will hear evidence Friday of nearly $40,000 in “potential missing funds” from an area police department.

The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee will review a report based on an audit of the Prescott, Ark., Police Department alleging unaccounted funds totaling $38,078.

State Sen. Jimmy Hickey Jr. of Texarkana, senate chairman of the audit committee, said the committee will refer the report to the state prosecutor for determining whether additional investigation is needed and if charges may be filed.

The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday in Committee Room A at the Mac Building in Little Rock.

“We’ve performed our duty. This is an investigative report and not an audit. This will be turned over to the judicial branch of government,” Hickey said.

The investigative report for the Arkansas Legislative Audit is a review of receipts and deposits of the city of Prescott Police Department from Feb. 18, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2016.

The report is issued in response to a request from 8th North Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Christi McQueen for the ALA to review.

“Of specific concern were allegations of potential missing funds in the department,” the report’s intro-

duction said.

The results of the review include the following:

“Review of receipts and deposits for the period Feb. 18, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2016, revealed unaccounted for funds totaling $38,078 in the Bond and Fine Account. Manual receipt books for the period Aug. 15, 2016 through Dec. 19 2016 could not be located; therefore the actual amount of unaccounted for funds could be higher.

“Unreceipted checks totaling $34,544 were deposited in the Bond and Fine Account, apparently to conceal the unaccounted for funds consisting primarily of cash. These checks included service fees and accident report revenue totaling $10,566 that should have been deposited in the Police Equipment Fund.”

The report also alleges that in addition to the unaccounted for funds, missing receipt books and unreceipted revenue paid with checks. The following discrepancies were noted:

Manual receipts were not always posted timely in the computer system.

Receipts did not always indicate the correct method of payment.

Some manual receipts were not posted in the computer system, while others were posted for the wrong amount or posted to the wrong account

Receipts were not identifiable with bank deposits

Some receipts were improperly altered, while others were improperly voided

The following internal control deficiencies were noted:

Receipting and depositing duties were not properly segregated

Manual receipts were not reconciled with bank deposits

Management did not provide adequate fiscal oversight

The report also said the administrative assistant, who resigned from employment in December 2016 was custodian of the funds and responsible for bank deposits.

Police Chief Joseph Beavers and Mayor Terry Oliver wrote a letter to Kim Williams, assistant legislative auditor, explaining the process and thanking the ALA.

“I appreciate the work conducted by the Office of Legislative Audit. The information gathered can only move our department forward, and ensure we are providing the best services possible to the citizens of the city of Prescott,” Beavers said.