Property & Evidence Room Audit

A Report to the

Jackson County

Board of Commissioners

Commissioners

Rick Dyer

Colleen Roberts

Bob Strosser

County Administrator

Danny Jordan

Internal Audit Program

Eric Spivak County Auditor

Tanya Baize Senior Auditor

Nicole Rollins Senior Auditor

Property & Evidence Room Audit

June 2017

Property & Evidence Room Audit i | P a g e

Internal Audit Eric Spivak

County Auditor

10 S. Oakdale, Room 214

Medford, OR 97501

Phone: (541) 774-6021

Fax: (541) 774-6705

[email protected]

To: Board of Commissioners

Re: Audit of

Date: June 5, 2017

The enclosed report presents the results of an audit over the Sheriff’s Office property and evidence

management.

The audit was designed with three objectives. The first objective was to determine if property and

evidence is appropriately accounted for and whether inventory records are accurate. The second

objective was to determine if the existing policies and procedures pertaining to property and

evidence are being followed. The last objective was to determine if there are any issues pertaining

to property and evidence needing to be addressed by management.

We found that the inventory records are generally complete and accurate. We offered a few

recommendations for ensuring that current practices mirror documented policy. We also

recommended that the Sheriff’s Office take steps to ensure that there is trained staff capable of

performing the duties of the Property and Evidence Clerk should the current Clerk not be available/

Please feel free to contact me at your convenience if you have any questions or would like

additional information not contained in the report.

C: Audit Committee

Moss Adams, LLP

ii | P a g e

Property & Evidence

What We Found

We found that inventory records are

generally complete and accurate. There

are a few areas for improvement that

management should consider, which are

discussed within the body of the report.

Why We Did This Audit

We conducted this audit in accordance

with the FY 16-17 Internal Audit Plan.

Our objectives were to determine if:

- Property and evidence is appropriately

accounted for and whether inventory

records are accurate;

- Existing policies and procedures

pertaining to property and evidence are

being followed; and

- There are any issues pertaining to

property and evidence needing to be

addressed by management.

What We Recommend

We recommend:

- Establishing a dollar threshold at which

currency should be stored in the safe

rather than in the general storage area.

- Establishing expected time frames for

‘checked-out’ property and evidence and

then establishing a monitoring frequency

to aid the Sheriff’s Office in verifying the

location of these checked-out items.

- Determining the steps to be performed

when conducting inspections and audits

and then developing a checklist for use

when completing inspections and audits.

- Management address its reliance on

the one individual employed as the

Property and Evidence Clerk.

Audit Results

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Introduction and Background

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division is

responsible for property and evidence management. This includes the

seizure, control, and disposal of evidence and other property. Policy 800

Property & Evidence of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Policy Manual

establishes the manner in which this is function is to be performed.

Many Sheriff’s Office employees are responsible for maintaining the

integrity of the property/evidence procedures. However one full time

Property and Evidence Clerk is tasked for maintaining the inventory and

performing related work as required. Extra help is brought in, as needed,

to assist the Property and Evidence Clerk.

Some of the Property and Evidence Clerk’s duties include the following:

Receiving, preserving, labeling, transporting, and storing evidence

and property.

Releasing evidence and property according to prescribed policy.

Disposing of narcotics, paraphernalia, and miscellaneous property

at industrial sites or at sanitary disposal service facilities.

Maintaining accurate records in accordance with Oregon law,

decisions, county policy, and department procedures.

Providing evidence and testimony in court when required.

Obtaining court orders as necessary for evidence and property

release or destruction.

A bar code based evidence tracking system by QueTel is used to maintain

an inventory of property and evidence. The system makes it easy to

receive and enter property and evidence into the computer, track items

using bar codes as they are moved in and out, and retrieve information in

either screen queries or reports.

Per the QueTel system, the property and evidence function is in control

of 13,913 items as of March 2017, which includes 4,073 new items

processed in 2016 and in the beginning of 2017. Including items that have

been disposed of and returned to owner, there are 37,189 records in the

QueTel system.

Property &

Evidence

Overview

Property & Evidence Room 2 | P a g e

We conducted our audit in accordance with Codified Ordinance 218

pertaining to the County Auditor. This audit was added to our fiscal year

2016-17 Internal Audit Plan at the request of Sheriff Sickler.

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally

accepted government auditing standards. These standards require that

we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence

to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on

our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a

reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit

objectives.

We did withhold information that was considered confidential or

sensitive due to security reasons. We did discuss this information with

the Captain that oversees the management of property and evidence.

We found that inventory records are generally complete and accurate.

There are a few areas of improvement that management should

consider, which are discussed below under audit results.

The focus of the audit was on determining if inventory records provide a

complete and accurate recording of the property and evidence inventory.

The scope was limited to the current inventory.

The objectives of our audit were to:

Determine if property and evidence is appropriately accounted for

and whether inventory records are accurate;

Determine if existing policies and procedures pertaining to

property and evidence are being followed; and

Determine if there are any issues pertaining to property and

evidence needing to be addressed by management.

Our primary audit procedures included:

Selecting a sample of items from QueTel and then verifying that

the location recorded in QueTel agreed with the physical location

of the item and that it was accurately described.

Selecting a sample of items located on the shelves and then

reviewing the QueTel entry to verify that the entry accurately

Audit Authority

Compliance with

Government

Auditing

Standards

Confidential or

Sensitive

Information

Audit Objectives,

Scope &

Methodology

Audit Conclusion


described the item and that the correct shelf location was entered

into QueTel.

Reviewing documentation for items that were returned to owner

or other appropriate party.

Reviewing reports of ‘checked-out’ items.

Discussing processes and practices with the Property and

Evidence Clerk.

Reviewing the Property and Evidence Policy Manual.

We found the following:

1. Inventory records are generally complete and accurate.

We found that the majority of items had no discrepancies between the

physical location and description of the items with the location and

description provided in QueTel. There were a few minor inconsistencies,

which we discuss below. Our review of inventory items focused on

currency that is maintained in a safe, firearms, and a random sample of

other property and evidence.

Appropriate safeguards have been implemented to safeguard currency.

Currency is kept in a dual locking safe that necessitates the presence of

two assigned individuals in order to open. Currency taken in as evidence

or other property is kept in a signed sealed envelope. Also, per the

Property and Evidence Clerk and the assigned Captain, periodic audits of

cash have been performed.

We verified that the location and description in QueTel for items located

in the safe agreed to the physical items in the safe. We verified that

envelopes were signed by appropriate employee(s) as per the policy in

effect. However, we note that we did not open envelopes and count the

money to verify it agreed with the amount recorded in QueTel.

An amount totaling $483.79 and consisting of ten separate items of

evidence or other property was recorded in QueTel as kept in the general

evidence storage area and not in the safe. For example, QueTel records

showed loose change in left pocket, therefore, it might be appropriate

that the change was retained in the same location as the other item (e.g.,

clothing).

Audit Results

Currency


We do not believe there is a high risk in keeping small dollar amounts in

the general evidence storage area rather than the safe. However, we

recommend that management establish a dollar threshold at which

currency should be stored in the safe rather than in the general storage

area.

We found that the description in QueTel for 40 firearms sampled agreed

to the description of the physical item. Of the 40 firearms sampled, 35 of

those firearms were found in the location recorded in QueTel. The

remaining 5 firearms were in a different location than recorded in

QueTel, however, the actual location was explainable and the Property

and Evidence Clerk has corrected the location of these items.

2 of the 5 firearms were waiting for pick-up. The remaining 3 firearms

were found on a different shelf in the firearm room than what was

recorded in QueTel.

We found that the description and location recorded in QueTel for 18

items randomly sampled agreed with the physical location of the item

and that it was accurately described. We also randomly selected 8 items

from the shelves and verified QueTel had the correct location and

description for those 8 items.

2. Establishing a more formal monitoring and review process of ‘checked-

out’ items should be considered. Also, additional research is needed to

verify the location of items which have been ‘checked-out’ for extended

periods of time.

Items may be sent to the District Attorney, the forensics laboratory, or

brought to court. These items are referred to as ‘checked-out.’

Movement of the item is logged into the QueTel system so that

movement and the current location are documented.

There were about 322 items categorized as ‘checked-out’ as of the

beginning of April 2017. About 11% of these items had been taken in as

evidence or other property prior to 2012. In total, the Property and

Evidence Clerk identified that about 36 items that are currently recorded

as ‘checked out’ have been for longer than would be expected. She has

begun to research these items.

Firearms

Other Property &

Evidence


There is no formal established length of time at which an item becomes

checked out for ‘longer than expected’ and monitoring occurs on an

informal basis. The Property and Evidence Clerk runs ‘checked-out’ item

reports once a year, or more often as time permits, to ensure that items

are returned.

A more formal/strict approach for managing ‘checked-out’ items should

be considered to reduce the risk of items becoming lost, forgotten, or

miss-recorded. For example, an established procedure could be written

to establish expected time frames and monitoring reports could be run

on a quarterly basis to verify the location of checked-out items.

Additionally, this monitoring function could also be done by someone

other than the Property and Evidence Clerk.

3. The release of property to owner or other appropriate party appears to

be occurring in compliance with the Property and Evidence Policy

Manual.

The Property and Evidence Policy Manual states:

A property and evidence clerk shall release the property upon proper

identification being presented by the owner for which an authorized

release has been received. A signature of the person receiving the

property shall be recorded on the property sheet.

Additionally, per federal and state law the Policy Manual prohibits the

release of firearms to anyone with a felony conviction or a misdemeanor

crime of domestic violence, stalking protective order, illegal aliens,

fugitives or persons ordered by the courts.

We reviewed documentation for 14 property items, 2 of which were

firearms. In all 14 instances, the receiver of the property or evidence had

signed to acknowledge receipt of the property. Additionally the

receiver’s drivers’ license number was recorded to demonstrate proper

identification had been presented. As required for the release of

firearms, appropriate criminal and related reports were run and the

documents retained to demonstrate that the individual was eligible to

receive the firearm.


4. A procedure needs to be established in order to ensure that compliance

with the “Inspections of the Evidence Room” section of the Property and

Evidence Policy Manual is being followed and is documented that it

took place.

Section 800.8 Inspections of the Evidence Room states:

(a) On a monthly basis, the supervisor of the evidence clerk shall

make an inspection of the evidence storage facilities and

practices to ensure adherence to appropriate policies and

procedures.

(b) Unannounced inspections of evidence storage areas shall be

conducted annually as directed by the Sheriff.

(c) An annual audit of evidence held by the department shall be

conducted by a Division Commander appointed by the Sheriff

who is not routinely or directly connected with evidence control.

(d) Whenever a change is made in personnel who have access to the

evidence room, an inventory of all evidence/property shall be

made by an individual(s) not associated to the property room or

function to ensure that records are correct and all evidence

property is accounted for.

The terms “inspection” and “audit” are not defined for purposes of policy

compliance. The Policy does not specify what steps or procedures should

occur during an inspection or audit. Also, there is no requirement to

maintain documentation supporting that the inspection, audit or

inventory took place and what the results were.

An inspection/audit checklist should be developed and then used to

document that the inspection and audit is occurring and the results of the

review.

5. The day-to-day activities of the property and evidence room is heavily

reliant on one individual.

During the audit it came to our attention that the Property and Evidence

room is staffed by one individual, who is assisted (as needed) by an extra

help employee.


This is problematic as the Sheriff’s Office is reliant on one individual to be

available. It is unclear as to what would happen if this individual were

unavailable for any length of time or unexpectedly resigned.

Management is aware of the situation but the available options are

limited to either cross training existing staff or requesting the addition of

a full or part time FTE.

Management has communicated that it will prioritize reducing the

reliance. However, as noted above, the options are limited.


Summary of Recommendations

1. We recommend establishing a dollar threshold at which currency should be stored in

the safe rather than in the general storage area.

2. We recommend establishing expected time frames for ‘checked-out’ property and

evidence and then establishing a monitoring frequency to aid the Sheriff’s Office in

verifying the location of these checked-out items.

3. We recommend determining the steps to be performed when conducting inspections

and audits and then developing a checklist for use when completing inspections and

audits.

4. We recommend that management address its reliance on the one individual employed

as the Property and Evidence Clerk.


Management Response


Jackson County Eric Spivak, County Auditor

Internal Audit Program 541-774-6021

10 S. Oakdale, Room 307 [email protected]

Medford, Oregon 97501

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This report is intended to promote the best possible management of public resources. This and

other audit reports produced by the Internal Audit Program are available for viewing on the web

at: http://jacksoncountyor.org/Departments/Internal-Audit/Performance-Audit-Reports. Printed

copies can be obtained by contacting the Internal Audit Program.

mailto:[email protected]

http://jacksoncountyor.org/Departments/Internal-Audit/Performance-Audit-Reports?EntryId=42014

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http://jacksoncountyor.org/Departments/Internal-Audit/Performance-Audit-Reports

Documents

Property & Evidence Room Audit