Cleveland County officials await answers from sheriff on budget

NORMAN — Sheriff Joe Lester attended the Cleveland County budget board meeting on Monday, but failed to turn over financial documents that members have repeatedly asked him to produce.

Lester said he “needed more than a week” to produce the documents in the format budget board members are requesting. He said, “but if that’s what the budget board wants, we will proceed.”

Chairman Harold Haralson told the sheriff, “You’ve had sufficient time to produce these documents. We’ve asked for them before.”

Board members are seeking specifics about the sheriff’s jail and administration budget because the sheriff claims he is facing a $1.1 million shortfall by the end of the fiscal year. He has asked commissioners to provide the money and has filed a lawsuit contending the commissioners have failed to adequately fund the detention center.

The sheriff’s budget is 40 percent of the budget for the entire county, commissioners spokesman John Roberts said. “The question is: Why doesn’t he have this documentation to show where he is short of funds?”

Cleveland County commissioners were critical of the sheriff when he failed to show up or send a departmental representative to their weekly business meeting, which was held about two hours after the budget board meeting.

Specifically, the sheriff was asked to be at the meeting to discuss a shortage of almost $21,000 in an inmate trust fund and to answer questions about why he wants to close the east entrance to the courthouse, making the building a one-point entry.

“The sheriff has made it clear he is not going to be transparent in regards to the inmate trust fund. He continues to hide the facts behind smoke and mirrors, saying that the state Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation into the missing money in conjunction with his office,” Haralson said.

Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the OSBI, has told commissioners and The Oklahoman that agency received an inquiry on March 10 about the fund. An inquiry was opened, then closed on March 29, without the matter turning into a criminal investigation, she said.

In a letter to commissioners Friday, the sheriff said he was unable to meet a request “for the OSBI report regarding the ongoing investigation of the Inmate Trust Account. Based on my conversation with the director of OSBI regarding this case, he advised that this is prohibited by state statute ...(that) OSBI reports are confidential and cannot be disclosed in the manner you are requesting.”

Haralson said state auditors have found problems with the Inmate Trust Account dating as far back as eight years ago “and the only thing the sheriff has done is ask taxpayers to cover the shortage.”

Commissioner Darry Stacy said the account remains in deficit by almost $21,000, and taxpayer money can’t be used to cover the shortage.

The Inmate Trust Account consists of funds deposited by inmates to use for commissary purchases while in jail or to be returned to them upon their release.

“As chairman of the commissioners and the budget board, I will continue to push for transparency from the sheriff,” Haralson said.

Commissioners also have said the sheriff does not have the unilateral right to close a courthouse entrance, despite a news release from Lester’s office that announced the eastside security entrance would be closed by May 1. The commission voted Monday to keep the east entrance open through the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30.

“If the sheriff wants to discuss the need for closing it after that, we can discuss it,” Haralson said. “But it has already been budgeted for him to maintain security at two entrances throughout this fiscal year.”

Haralson added, “The sheriff has not asked us for our permission or our blessing on the issue of this closure. We have asked him to be here to discuss it, but he’s not here.”

Commissioners also tabled action on a purchase order request from the sheriff to buy body armor for a SWAT member.

Haralson said commissioners were not aware the sheriff’s department had a SWAT team.

“We’re being asked to approve purchases for a non-existent SWAT team ... despite his budget shortages, apparently the sheriff has found surplus money to be spent on a newfound division of his department. I don’t believe we should approve this expenditure until the sheriff comes to the board and explains it,” Haralson said.

In answer to an email inquiry, Undersheriff Rhett Burnett said the sheriff’s office does not have a SWAT team but is seeking a higher level of protective vest for deputies “who have demonstrated tactical skill” and who have been designated as “entry team members” for search warrants or dangerous entries.