IRON COUNTY, MO (Show Me Live) – Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has revealed the findings after auditing former Iron County Sheriff Jeffrey Burkett. In a 29-page document release today (Wed, Feb 19th), the audit identified deficiencies in internal controls, noncompliance with legal provisions, the need for improvement in management practices and procedures, and missing money totaling at least $5,680.
In the case of missing money, sheriff’s office personnel collected at least $5,680 for cash bonds that was not deposited and is missing. Of the 263 bond forms written from December 31, 2020, to March 31, 2023, 136 forms indicated money was collected. During a review of these bonds, the audit identified six bond forms that indicated the sheriff’s office collected cash totaling $5,680 that was not deposited into any sheriff bank account and could not be traced to a disbursement to a court.
A review of 263 bond forms issued from December 31, 2020. through March 31, 2023, found concerns with 94, including bond money collected but never deposited; court case not identified for collected bond money; illegible, incomplete, and missing bond forms; a bond disbursed before the bond money was collected; and a bond disbursement rejected by the bank because the Sheriff’s office bank account did not have sufficient funds. During the audit period, 24 bonds, totaling $19,501, were not disbursed to the circuit court for more than 30 days, with some money held for almost a year. The former Sheriff did not segregate accounting duties and did not perform adequate supervisory reviews of detailed accounting and bank records. The sheriff’s office did not establish adequate controls for monitoring bank account use causing both the Bond account and the Revolving Fund account to be overdrawn multiple times. During the audit period, the Bond and Revolving Fund accounts had balances as low as negative $701 and negative $14,448, respectively. The overdrawn accounts resulted in the county paying overdraft fees totaling $238.
According to the report, Burkett did not establish appropriate disbursement controls and written procedures, which allowed inappropriate purchases to go undetected. The audit noted nine improper purchases, totaling $4,954 with office credit cards and 2 improper cash withdrawals from the Donations account, totaling $308.
Fitzpatrick states that, “The Sheriff’s office procedures for receipting, recording, and depositing money need improvement” and “did not establish appropriate controls and written procedures for the use of office credit cards.”
The full report can be read via the Missouri Auditor’s website.
Burkett was elected Iron County Sheriff in November 2020, and served in this capacity until his arrest in March 2023. While removed from active duty after his arrest, former Sheriff Burkett did not resign from office until January 31, 2024, and continued to be paid during that time period. In accordance with Section 58.200, RSMo, which states the County Coroner is to perform the duties of sheriff when the office is vacant, Iron County Coroner Tim Harbison temporarily performed the duties of the Sheriff from March 2023 through February 2024 when a new sheriff was officially appointed by the County Commission. The County hired Greg Hitchings as Deputy Consultant on March 21, 2023, to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff’s office. Prior to Hitchings stepping down from this position on August 25, 2023, the County hired Chuck Helton as Deputy Consultant on August 14, 2023. On February 8, 2024, the County Commission passed a resolution to appoint Helton as the acting Sheriff until the special election on April 2, 2024.