Apr 15, 2015 4 min read

For the second year in a row, an audit by the office of Controller Michael Namie has found that Washington County jail personnel are not turning over bail bond money to the clerk of courts’ office on the next business day as required by the jail’s own policy.

When the problem surfaced last year, the jail instituted a lockbox under the watch of a security camera to keep bail money overnight or over the weekend. No bail money was missing in either year, Namie emphasized Wednesday when presenting the audit and findings to Washington County Prison Board, but of the 255 receipts issued, 78, or 30.6 percent, were not remitted to the clerk of courts on the next business day. The time lapse ranged from two to seven business days.

The track record had improved significantly since the problem came to light. In 2013, 23 of 39 receipts, or nearly 59 percent, were not turned over to the row office on the next business day, and bail money kept at the jail ranged from two to 18 days.

The controller also found nine receipts were issued out of numerical sequence. Of the 255 receipts issued in 2014, 128 clerk of courts’ receipts were missing. The jail was able to provide duplicate receipts so auditors could inspect them.

“The purpose of that procedure is so we don’t have bail money – cash – lying around,” Namie said after the prison board meeting.

Warden John Temas “instituting the lockbox has made that procedure stronger,” Namie said. “What has not yet been addressed is there are still instances when somebody is sick or on vacation or just flat-out too busy with other duties that they have not done on it the next business day and that needs to be addressed by the administration. Whether due to vacation or a sick day, the policy needs to be adhered to.”

Clerk of Courts Barbara Gibbs also discussed the procedure when contacted by a reporter.

“They give a temporary receipt at the jail for the money,” she said Wednesday. “And it should be so marked. The clerk of courts issues receipts to the surety person, who is the actual depositor. The surety will have temporary receipt from the jail and the permanent receipt from the clerk of courts.”

The jail can print a duplicate receipt for record-keeping purposes “but at some point someone at the jail didn’t do that,” Gibbs said.

“Therein lies the personnel matter,” said Temas after a 30-minute closed session of the prison board on personnel matters.

When an inmate posts bond during courthouse business hours, the matter is handled through the clerk of courts office. Jail personnel, however, collect bail bonds when the courthouse is closed, according to Pennsylvania’s Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Namie said his staff also found inadequate internal controls at the jail over the petty cash account dealing with bail bonds.

A $100 petty cash account was established at the jail so those who worked there would be able to make change for bond filing fees. When the controller’s office checked on the account, it contained $77. Namie’s staff member inquired about the other $23 that should have been in the petty cash account. “The money has since been restored by the administration of the correctional facility,” Namie noted.

The controller also found that “proper daily logs of transactions were not completed.” Earlier this year, keeping $100 in a petty cash account was “deemed excessive,” the audit reported, and the amount was reduced to $50.

“We recommend that the records captain or designee report any discrepancies or mistakes to the warden or deputy warden immediately,” Namie wrote in his report. “In order to assure compliance, the petty cash log and receipts should be reconciled with cash on hand periodically” by jail administrators. He also recommended that the jail practice better record-keeping and cash-handling procedures when issuing receipts.

“We always give an auditee substantial notice,” Namie said, when asked if his office came to the jail unannounced to conduct the audit, which took three or four days.

Members of the prison board voted to accept Namie’s audit. District Attorney Gene Vittone was absent. Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan added to the motion that the jail will formulate a corrective action plan to remedy each finding within 30 days.

The warden’s report showed at the close of March, the jail housed 379 inmates, including 309 males and 70 females.