County treasurer flags $261,000 in questioned past expenditures, urges oversight
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Summary
Leavenworth County Treasurer presented a review of department expenditures from 2016–2023 and identified roughly $261,000 in items he said raised questions about appropriate fund sources and statutory limits; he recommended independent review or an auditing position to improve transparency.
Leavenworth County Treasurer Caleb Turner told commissioners he reviewed the treasurer’s office expenditures from 2016 through 2023 and identified roughly $261,000 in transactions that raise questions about whether special funds (chiefly the motor vehicle and the treasurer’s technology account) were used for statutorily allowable purposes.
Turner said he ran the items past professional groups including the Kansas County Treasurers Association and the county’s outside accounting counsel and that the questions are legally valid and warrant additional scrutiny. He did not allege criminal wrongdoing; rather he recommended an additional “set of eyes” — for example, a county auditor position or a formal review process — so that questionable charges could be vetted before payment.
Examples Turner cited: - Janitorial services: From 2016–2020, roughly $103,000 was paid from the motor vehicle fund for janitorial services; Turner questioned whether janitorial costs are “necessary help and expense incidental to the administration of the Motor Vehicle Registration Act,” which is the statutory standard. - Outside legal fees: From 2016–2018, the county paid over $51,000 in outside legal fees to an attorney; about $16,000 of those fees were charged to the motor vehicle fund, Turner said. - DIRECTV/satellite: Turner identified about $2,544 charged to the motor vehicle fund for satellite service that provided TV in an annex waiting room for customers; Turner said prior attorney-general opinions viewed security systems and similar items as not necessarily incidental to motor vehicle administration. - Technology and mailing: The technology fund (K.S.A. 28-181) was used for printing and mailing tax statements — Turner identified more than $93,000 of such costs between 2016 and 2022 charged to the technology fund — and he said the fund has also supported personnel wages (about $32,000 over a one- to two-year period) for an office position created to answer phones and handle duties that the treasurer said may not meet the statutory technology definition.
Turner said he eliminated the DIRECTV service when he became treasurer and that he drew funds down conservatively to preserve resources for necessary technology work; he reported setting aside roughly $50,000 in the technology fund toward recent purchases, including acquiring 21 new computers and software this year.
What he asked commissioners to consider: Turner proposed exploring greater oversight, such as adding an auditing layer or a county auditor position to review expenditures and help ensure compliance with statutory limits for special funds. Commissioners discussed limits: the treasurer has statutory discretion to spend funds in certain accounts, and elected officials retain authority over their office expenditures; county counsel noted legal constraints on the board’s ability to direct how elected officials use statutorily controlled funds.
Ending: Commissioners thanked Turner and discussed including his findings in broader “government efficiency” work but acknowledged legal and practical limits to how much the board can control expenditures from funds that statute gives an elected official authority to spend. Turner said the review aim is transparency and improved stewardship of restricted accounts.
