Without statutory authority, the Department of Public Safety maintained a checking account outside of the state treasury from February 1988 to December 1989 to handle forfeited monies seized during criminal arrests. The department used the bank account as a savings account instead of a clearing account to transfer forfeited monies to the state treasury. As such, the account earned $28,286 in interest which has not been transferred to the state general fund as required by state law.
The Department of Public Safety did not report actual receipts ($590,078) and expenditures ($246,000) of forfeited monies to the Legislature as required by state statutes for fiscal years 1988 and 1989.
The Department of Public Safety used an “overpayment recovery” process (normally used to re-spend monies refunded by vendors) as a means of escalating its budget improperly by $387,251 during fiscal years 1988, 1989, and 1990. The department reimbursed its general fund account with forfeited monies for various purchases (primarily equipment) during this period and classified the reimbursements as “overpayment recoveries” As such, the transactions had no effect on the department’s general fund allotments and were not reflected as expenditures against appropriations limits.
For a paper copy of this report, contact PEER by telephone at 601-359-1226 or by e-mail at reports@peer.ms.gov.