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Auditors find $6.6 million inventory misstatement at Maricopa County Sheriff's Office; county corrected financials before issuance
Summary
The Auditor General reported a $6.6 million overstatement in MCSO inventory (sack lunches recorded at incorrect unit counts). County finance and MCSO officials said the error was human, corrected before the financial statements were issued, and new controls will add finance review.
The Arizona Auditor General reported June 9, 2025, that Maricopa County's initial FY2024 financial statements contained a $6.6 million inventory misstatement tied to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office food operations.
Auditors said the Detention Operations Fund was overstated by $6.6 million because MCSO staff recorded inmate sack lunches in the inventory management system using incorrect unit counts. Michelle Walters, audit manager, said supervisory review failed to detect the error and the Sheriff's Office did not properly investigate the variance when it was identified during year-end procedures.
Jim Prindiville, chief financial officer for MCSO, told the board the error was human, explaining that batches or tubs of sack lunches were entered as individual units, which multiplied counts. He said the finance team will add a review layer: "We're adding a layer of control over this where the finance team will get in. We'll review the numbers every year with them. We'll do some comparatives to prior years and make sure that something like this doesn't happen."
Walters said the County Finance Department corrected the misstatement before issuance of the financial statements on Dec. 19, 2024, and the county anticipates implementing auditor recommendations by June 30, 2025.
Board members asked whether the error was software- or human-caused; Prindiville said it was "total human error." The auditors recommended ensuring physical inventory counts and valuations are accurate, investigating discrepancies before making inventory-system adjustments, and that employees follow county policy for inventory counts.
