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Internal audit update: governance and procurement‑card reviews launched; juvenile services leave balances create notable liability
Summary
Knox County Internal Audit reported new governance and procurement‑card audits, continuous auditing results and hotline activity, and said a recalculation of juvenile‑services leave balances increased recorded liabilities by roughly $365,000 (annual) and $260,000 (sick), a "little over $600,000" on the county books.
Zach Bullockton of Knox County Internal Audit delivered a broad status update to the Audit Committee on Oct. 20, reviewing recently closed and newly launched projects, hotline activity and control‑risk evaluations.
Bullockton said the audit shop closed the schools compensation‑study and capital‑asset audits and has launched a governance audit (to review the performance of county boards and committees) and a Knox County Schools procurement‑card audit; both will include outreach such as surveys and school‑level document review. The office also reported six new hotline complaints since the last meeting and that four of those were closed.
On a separate matter, Bullockton summarized work on leave‑balance tracking at the juvenile services center. After recalculating annual and sick leave under county accrual policies, he said the audit estimated an additional recorded liability of $365,000 for annual leave and $260,000 for sick leave — "a little over 600,000" when combined — noting that this is a balance‑sheet liability (not an immediate cash outlay) and that about 90% of the employees in that group remain employed.
Other control‑risk evaluations highlighted improvements in Parks & Recreation referee payments, the sheriff’s office off‑duty employment procedures and IT inventory reconciliation. Bullockton said internal audit will continue follow‑up work and recommended that commissioners respond to audit outreach as the governance review proceeds.
The Audit Committee accepted the update and discussed scheduling and next steps; internal audit indicated it will bring policy and process updates to the commission and coordinate on training and remediation as needed.
