PERRY COUNTY GETS AUDIT SUGGESTIONS

PERRYVILLE -- A state audit released Monday questions payments made to the Perry County sheriff to cover the cost of feeding prisoners in the county jail.

State Auditor Margaret Kelly's office issued the audit report, which found county commissioners did not require Sheriff Dutch Schmidt to submit invoices or bills from food purchases he makes for the jail, but it reimbursed for them on a per-prisoner, per-day basis.

Over a three-year period ending in December, 1990, the county reimbursed the sheriff $46,385 for the cost of serving meals at the jail.

"The county commission has no assurance whether the reimbursements paid to the sheriff are reasonable and represent only actual costs," the report states.

It recommends that the commission should pay food vendors based on invoices and bills submitted by the sheriff, "to ensure that the county is only paying actual costs incurred for the preparation of meals at the county jail."

The reimbursements made in form of a county check made out to the sheriff personally were also not reported to the Internal Revenue Service on the sheriff's tax forms, according to the report.

Schmidt said Monday the commission has never asked him to submit bills or invoices for food costs in the 12 years he's been sheriff.

Perry County Presiding Commissioner Karl Klaus said reimbursing the sheriff for food costs on a per-prisoner, per-day basis is common practice in third class counties. Schmidt was reimbursed $6.95 per prisoner, per day for food costs and to cover the salary of a cook.

Klaus is also president of the Missouri County Commissioners Association. He said he's discussed the practice of reimbursements on a per-day, per-prisoner basis with commissioners in other third-class counties.

"I'd say that $6.95 is on the low end," Klaus said. "To break even, we need to have eight to 10 prisoners in the jail."

He said the sheriff keeps track of how many prisoners are in the jail during each day of the month and submits a report to the county. The monthly reports and reimbursement checks must be approved by county commissioners.

Neither the audit report nor the commissioner indicated suspicion that the sheriff "overcharged" the county for food costs, or did not use the money for food and food preparation costs.

Schmidt said he agrees with the state auditor that the county should pay food bills directly, and he said he would like to be eliminated as the "middleman."

"I'd like to see them (the commissioners) come down here and feed these prisoners and pay a cook for $6.95, which doesn't go very far," the sheriff said. "Most of the time I'm in the hole with my food bills."

Schmidt and Klaus said the jail has not been full for some time. On average, four to six prisoners have occupied the jail in recent months.

"The only way I can break even is to have 10 or 11 prisoners in the jail at one time, which is rarely the case," said the sheriff, who said the jail cook was laid off two weeks ago because he couldn't pay her.

Klaus said if the sheriff makes a formal request that the system of payment be changed, the commissioners will likely comply. He also said any future reimbursement payments would be reported on the sheriff's tax forms.

Schmidt said he intends to ask the commissioners to change the system. He said he would rather not be in charge of food purchases for prisoners.

"I'm not happy with the whole mess," he said. "I could say that for a number of years it's been nothing but a sore thumb."

The reimbursements should have been reported on the sheriff's W-2 form because with the lack of documentation for the expenses, they represent other income to the sheriff, the report states.