MOUNT VERNON — Last week, Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher requested an investigation into the possible misuse of law enforcement trust funds maintained by Knox County Sheriff David Barber.
“The Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation is investigating this allegation,” said Thatcher.
Money that goes into the Law Enforcement Trust Fund comes from the sale of property seized or forfeited. According to the Ohio Revised Code, as well as Barber’s internal control policy, expenditures from the fund are restricted for specific uses. Those include investigation and prosecution costs of complex cases; costs of training and providing technical expertise; application toward federal matching funds; or any other law enforcement purpose as determined by the sheriff or his designee.
The possible misuse of funds stems from October 2004, when Barber wrote checks totaling $1,041.67 from the fund to pay for signs and advertising for his re-election campaign. He repaid the full amount in November 2004.
“The county sheriff may use proceeds from trust funds for government purposes related to law enforcement,” said Thatcher. “It is an audited fund — a fund you have to maintain internal control policies for.”
Barber said he is the only one who has access to the LETF.
“It’s considered an outside account,” he said. “I maintain it and it’s examined every year by the state auditor.
“The documents speak for themselves,” he said. “I am prepared to cooperate 100 percent with this investigation. These accounts have all been reviewed and passed the muster of the state auditor.”
According to Emily Frazee, spokeswoman for the state auditor’s office, counties are required to be audited every year. However, individual funds within the county audit are only audited every three years.
When conducting the county audit, said Frazee, the auditor looks at what are called “areas material.”
“Those are areas which carry some risk, or have large amounts,” said Frazee. “Maybe a fund that has not been checked for a few years. We do our best. Our goal is to go into any entity and get a good grasp of their finances. ... Any time we see something suspicious, we delve further. Sometimes if there’s something in an area we did not look at, it may not come up.”
Barber’s LEFT was not one of the funds looked at in the state audit for 2004.
“Typically, every year the sheriff’s office gives the county auditor a report of their finances,” said Frazee. “The county auditor is not required to audit those statements.”
Although the Knox County Sheriff’s Office receives funds from the county commissioners, the LETF is not a fund overseen by the commissioners.
“This particular trust fund is for the sheriff — kind of like your checking account,” said Commissioner Allen Stockberger. “He has discretion over it. Unless we would dig, we really don’t know if anything is wrong.”
Stockberger said the commissioners have received communication from the state auditor’s office that Barber could provide better documentation for the account.
“We have not had any issues that improper transactions have been made. There have never been any findings for recovery, no citations,” said Stockberger. “Usually it’s a letter suggesting we work with the sheriff and try to get better documentation.
“It’s a matter of cooperation between offices,” Stockberger added. “He still has discretion.”
Stockberger said the money received by the sheriff’s office for which the commissioners do have responsibility is around $4 million, and goes toward deputies and the Knox County Jail. The process for using those funds starts with a purchase order; when the bills come through, they are reviewed by the commissioners. The county auditor’s office then actually pays the bills.
Stockberger said that at any time the commissioners can check the computer for a running balance on any county department. The amount appropriated at the beginning of the year, the encumbered amount (the amount of purchase orders still outstanding) and the cash balance are all shown.
Having different individuals involved throughout the process, he said, is what provides the checks and balances for the funds.
Barber said records supporting expenditures from the LETF for 2004 have been destroyed, although the record-retention policy for the sheriff’s office states cash books, check books ad receipts are to be maintained for three years after the audit. The audit covering 2004 was released July 18, 2005; records thus should have been maintained until July 18, 2008.
According to Barber, ledgers are maintained every year for comparison purposes, but the supporting documentation for the fund has always been destroyed every two years.
“I don’t have anything to hide in this investigation,” said Barber. “There’s not anything that is abnormal or unusal about how I’ve always handled this account.
“I have a 30-year distinguished law enforcement career,” he continued. “It does bother me that my honesty is being questioned. No money is unaccounted for, and I am fully prepared to cooperate with this investigation.”
In the meantime, he said, it’s business as usual at the sheriff’s office.
“This [investigation] is no reflection of myself, the office or the people who work for me,” he said. “We don’t want people doubting our integrity.”
News reporter Anton Hepler contributed to this article.
