JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released a report covering the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. The report is part of a comprehensive review of Clay County government initiated by citizens through the petition audit process.
“The taxpayers that initiated this audit of Clay County made it clear they wanted a thorough, independent review of their county government. This is the fourth report we have issued to do just that,” Auditor Galloway said. “I appreciate the sheriff’s commitment to address the findings in the report and ensure his office is operating as efficiently as possible on behalf of Clay County citizens.”
The report made recommendations to improve accounting processes in the sheriff’s office, including ensuring deposits are made timely and the numerical sequence of manual receipts is accounted for. The report also recommended the county have written agreements with other counties and cities that board prisoners in the Clay County Jail and ensure current arrangements are cost effective for the county.
The sheriff’s office committed to addressing the findings in the audit, which received an overall rating of good. The complete audit report is available here.
The audit of Clay County was initiated after a citizen petition was submitted to the State Auditor’s Office and then verified to have more than the minimum 5,590 signatures of county residents who are registered voters. The audit faced several legal challenges by former members of the Clay County Commission including a lawsuit to prevent the Auditor from conducting the citizen-mandated audit. Earlier this year, the current county commission dropped all legal objections to ongoing audit work.
In 2020, the State Auditor’s Office released reports on the Clay County clerk, public administrator and recorder of deeds. A final report on the county commission and other county offices is expected to be released before the end of the year.
