Audit of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO)

This is a state performance audit of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office covering July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019.

“This report details the audit objectives, scope, methodology, and recommendations for the audit period, July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019.”

The auditor reviewed whether the office’s non-payroll spending, contracting process, and overtime oversight were appropriate.

“In this performance audit, we examined HCSO’s activities related to the appropriateness of its non-payroll expenses, its process for contracting for goods and services, and its oversight of staff overtime.”

The sheriff’s office runs correctional facilities, supervises staff and inmates, and spends tens of millions of state dollars, so its controls affect public money and public safety.

“For its operational needs for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, HCSO received state appropriations of $80,121,240 and $81,553,076, respectively.”

For residents, the main takeaway is that the audit did not find significant problems in the areas tested, including expenses, contracts, and overtime pay.

“Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance in any of the areas we audited that must be reported under generally accepted government auditing standards.”

The office passed the audit objectives: expenses were supported, contracting followed policy, and the reviewed overtime was for hours worked.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

The auditor recommended that the sheriff’s office start IT security awareness training for employees when they are hired and repeat it periodically.

“We believe that HCSO should implement some form of IT security awareness training related to data security for employees upon hire and periodically thereafter.”

Even though there were no reportable audit findings, the report flags cybersecurity training as important because the office handles sensitive information.

“HCSO handles sensitive information, and this training could provide a level of security to reduce the risk of its information systems being compromised.”

“Non-payroll expenses” means spending other than employee pay, such as invoices and purchase orders for goods and services.

“We reviewed supporting documentation, such as invoices and purchase orders, and analyzed it to determine whether the expenditures were supported and directly applicable to HCSO’s mission.”