$31,000 missing in Johnson Co.

Someone has stolen at least $31,000 from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office in southeast Nebraska, the sheriff said Tuesday.

“It don't matter to me if it was $10 or $31,000, whoever did it needs to be caught and needs to pay for their crime,'' Sheriff James Wenzl said.

Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley issued a report Tuesday saying that at least $31,000 is missing from Wenzl's office in Tecumseh. Most of the money was cash under Wenzl's control, according to the audit report.

“Initially, we thought we had some sort of bookkeeping error,'' Wenzl said.

He said in an interview that he reported about $6,000 missing to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office last December after a routine county audit. A Nebraska State Patrol investigator was assigned to the case, and Foley's office became involved.

Wenzl said he wonders if a current or former Sheriff's Office employee pocketed the money. He said 15 or 16 people work in the office, including part-time workers and reserve deputies.

Wenzl said he took a polygraph exam administered by the State Patrol in October. He said he was told that he passed the test.

As the investigation got under way, Wenzl said, he hired a part-time bookkeeper to make deposits, issue checks and handle all accounting procedures. All sheriff's fees are now put into a safe before they are deposited at a bank.

“We started implementing checks and double-checks,” Wenzl said. “It's a challenge. You run for office, and you don't expect to be an accountant.''

Wenzl said Foley's office has not recommended any further changes in policies or procedures beyond those already made.

Wenzl said the initial $6,000 loss continued to grow as state auditors looked into the office's records.

Foley's report says a total of $31,242, mostly cash, was received by the Sheriff's Office from January 2008 through April 2009 but wasn't deposited in the bank. Wenzl's office receives an average of $10,000 per month during the year in cash for bail, title inspections, handgun permits and delivering court documents.

Auditors noted various months in which there was no deposit or only one or two deposits. The longest period between deposits was from July 2 until Sept. 5, 2008.

Foley's report to Johnson County commissioners didn't say the missing funds were stolen, but Foley turned audit results over to the Attorney General's Office.

A state auditor met Tuesday with the Johnson County Board about a countywide audit conducted in conjunction with the review of the Sheriff's Office. The state noted that limited staffing in each county office puts one person in charge of handling all financial transactions from beginning to end.

“As always, the county must weigh the cost of hiring additional personnel versus the benefit of proper segregation of duties,'' the audit report said.

Foley's office recommended that the County Board recover the missing funds from the county's insurance policy or the sheriff personally. Wenzl said that will be a decision for commissioners to make.

Wenzl, a Republican, is up for re-election next year. He was elected sheriff in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

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