Finance staff raises accounting concerns for corrections commissary and inmate funds

During the finance meeting staff raised concerns about how corrections is recording commissary and inmate account activity. Finance staff said the county currently books the net effect of collections and disbursements from inmate activity as revenue, but that the money collected on inmates' behalf should be treated as a liability on the county balance sheet until paid out to inmates.

Staff requested that corrections provide a monthly breakdown showing (1) total monies collected for inmates, (2) payments or distributions to inmates, and (3) the resulting liability still owed to inmates so the county can reflect the amounts correctly in the general ledger rather than recording those net amounts as miscellaneous revenue.

Committee members said the collection activity has historically been tracked in the jail commissary account and audited annually, but finance staff asked for more consistent month-to-month reporting and for corrections to record inmate collections as liabilities rather than revenue. Staff indicated they will follow up with corrections leadership to reconcile bank statements and bookings and to ensure the county's financial statements reflect the appropriate liability treatment for inmate funds.