Sheriff's Office faces outside audit

City Controller Alan Butkovitz says the Sheriff's Office won't cooperate with his efforts to review its finances.

So Butkovitz has asked the city to pay for an outside financial audit of the office - one of the city's most criticized "row offices." And the mayor's office said he'll get the money.

In an internal-audit report released yesterday, Butkovitz said that his attempts to review the sheriff's finances were restricted because the office did not provide the necessary bank statements for its accounts, which hold about $53 million temporarily from transactions like mortgage foreclosures or tax liens.

"Their continued refusal to provide requested documents and information, coupled with poor control procedures that provide ample opportunity to misappropriate and conceal a theft of funds, in our opinion, makes the Sheriff's Office highly at risk for fraudulent activity," the report states.

Butkovitz's report also noted that $10,000 in petty change was unaccounted for and raised questions about whether employee vacation and sick days were properly counted.

In a written response to Butkovitz's internal report, Sheriff's Chief Deputy Barbara Deeley said the controller had not given the office sufficient time to comply with requests and accused Butkovitz's staff of creating a "hostile work environment."

"Our review of the audit period shows that there were never any considerations given to the workload of our staff or the limitation imposed by an outdated computer system," said the response.

The Sheriff's Office also said that it has made all requested documents available and that it is working to improve its leave and sick-time policies.

One of the city's "row offices," the Sheriff's Office - responsible for transporting prisoners, providing security for courtrooms, serving warrants and auctioning real estate to satisfy tax or mortgage debts - has faced several calls for elimination from good-government groups.

Sheriff John Green, who has held the position since 1988, has announced plans to step down before the end of his term in January 2012. Deeley will take over for the remainder.

State Rep. Jewell Williams and retired Philadelphia police Captain Alan Kurtz plan to seek the post in next year's Democratic primary election.