A new report from State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick finds the former Randolph County Sheriff, who was barred from accessing county funds by a restraining order while still in office, is responsible for at least $222,605 in county funds that were misappropriated or inappropriately spent, and nearly $2,000 that is still missing. The audit report, which gives the Randolph County Sheriff's Office the lowest possible rating of "poor," also recommends the County Commission work with law enforcement to pursue criminal prosecution of the former sheriff.

"It is outrageous that the chief law enforcement officer for the county engaged in apparent criminal conduct as he abused his authority by funneling money to accounts outside of the county treasury and then potentially misused tens of thousands of these dollars for his personal benefit. It's clear he had no regard for the law and saw county funds as being his personal piggy bank. Thankfully the Sheriff's Office is now in more competent hands and officials are working to put our recommendations in place so such an egregious breach of public trust cannot happen again," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "When you take this report in combination with our previous report on the other aspects of Randolph County government, it's clear county officials have a lot of work to do to regain the confidence of the people. I hope they will continue to follow the path we have given them to create a county government that is more efficient, effective, and transparent."

The report found former Sheriff Aaron Wilson made 11 unsupported, improper cash withdrawals totaling $47,500 and improperly cashed 2 checks totaling $9,000. The former Sheriff claimed he withdrew cash for things like purchasing toys for children and to reimburse deputies for training expenses, but there was little to no documentation to support these claims or to explain why they failed to comply with county disbursement procedures that dictate the use of a check. Wilson also improperly cashed a $4,000 check from the City of Huntsville and a $5,000 check from the annual advertising calendar vendor. The former Sheriff could not provide documentation to support the use of these funds, and the funds were not deposited into a Sheriff's account.  

The report also documents $166,105 in improper and unsupported disbursements from the Benevolent Fund and Commissary accounts. While some of the disbursements may have been appropriate, the former Sheriff disbursed the money outside of the normal county purchasing process, which circumvented county purchasing controls including County Commission oversight. In one example the former Sheriff made a cash withdrawal of $500 from an ATM located in a casino in Lewis County. Wilson claimed he provided an employee with the $500 he withdrew in April as a cash advance for meals at an out-of-state training that took place a few weeks later. While the employee was able to provide receipts for a portion of the total there was no justification provided for why the reimbursement occurred outside the normal county process.

Additionally, former Randolph County Sheriff Aaron Wilson purchased 8 vehicles and a trailer for a total of $78,650 using the Commissary account, which allowed him to forego the normal county purchasing review and approval process. The former Sheriff did not obtain bids as required by state law for five of the vehicles. The former Sheriff also made one-time payments, which appear to be bonuses that violate the Missouri Constitution, to 20 jailers totaling $15,692. The check memo lines identified some of these payments as a "uniform allowance" but the transactions appear to be an attempt to disguise year-end bonuses. He also improperly paid additional compensation, totaling $5,214, to 4 office employees. None of the payments went through the normal county payroll process.

Wilson also violated the Missouri Constitution by using public funds to make a variety of donations totaling several thousand dollars. Included in this is $1,500 in donations to a local private school that the former Sheriff's child attended. He also purchased food and paid for meals at local restaurants totaling $4,321 with Benevolent Fund and Commissary account funds. Additionally, he used public funds to make five payments totaling $1,695 to a local Rotary Club for his personal membership dues. The report also identifies at least $1,988 in commissary receipts that were not deposited by the Sheriff's Office, and the money is missing.

The report also documents how Wilson was able to divert county receipts collected by his office to accounts improperly held outside of the county treasury. This allowed him to improperly spend county funds maintained in the Benevolent Fund, K-9 Fund, and CCW Fund accounts. The report notes there is no statutory authority allowing the Sheriff to maintain these accounts outside the county treasury. Another finding in the report documents how the lack of segregation of duties and adequate accounting controls and procedures resulted in the improper and unsupported payments going undetected for a significant period of time. The Sheriff's Office also failed to maintain adequate supporting documentation for more than half of the disbursements reviewed by the State Auditor's Office.

Other findings in the audit identify how the Sheriff's Office did not enter into written contracts for some prisoner boarding, did not have sufficient procedures to bill other counties for prisoner board, did not maintain complete, accurate records of seized property, and did not conduct periodic physical inventories of seized property.

The complete audit of Randolph County Sheriff's Office can be found here.