COLUMBIA, Ky. (AP) - Nearly $100,000 submitted to a Kentucky jail for inmate accounts went missing in the last fiscal year, a state audit revealed.
The audit of the Adair County Fiscal Court was released Wednesday by State Auditor Mike Harmon. It found that $97,451 sent to the Adair County Regional Jail, often by family or friends of inmates for telephone time or commissary, was never deposited into inmate accounts.
The audit covered the fiscal year between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. Information on the missing money will be referred to Kentucky State Police, Harmon said in a news release announcing the audit’s findings.
Adair County Jailer Joey White told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he didn’t take the money and the report doesn’t indicate what happened to it.
Harmon’s report states the jail lacked adequate segregation of duties, with just one person responsible for receiving cash, preparing bank deposits and taking in deposits for inmate accounts. The jailer was responsible for cosigning checks but there was no evidence they were compared to source documents, the report said.
Changes have been made to fix problems detailed in the report, White told the Herald-Leader. The report stated that two more staff members were implemented to improve the segregation of duties.
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