Weber County auditor flags evidence-room risks and gaps in animal-services policies

Kaylee Rhodes, Weber County's internal auditor, told commissioners on March 9 that her follow-up review of the evidence room turned up about eight findings and one general recommendation, and that five of those findings constitute what she called a "significant risk." Rhodes said the problems include inappropriate access to restricted areas, reliance on degradable digital media such as floppy disks and cassette tapes, and gaps in required inspection and chain-of-custody procedures.

"There were some concerns regarding evidence that could be lost because it's being kept on degradable sources like floppy disc, cassette tapes," Rhodes said, and recommended moving those files to external hard drives and rewriting inspection procedures so managers complete regular reviews. Rhodes also urged creation of a targeted conflict-of-interest policy for evidence-room technicians, noting that current countywide rules focus on financial conflicts and do not address situations where a technician might handle evidence involving family members.

Rhodes said the sheriff verbally accepted most recommendations at a meeting but that a few items were objected to in writing; she plans a formal follow-up engagement in August to verify implementation. "We will be following up with all the recommendations in 6 months' time anyway," Rhodes told the commission.

Rhodes also summarized prior audit work of the public defenders' office, saying one recommendation to require affidavits from defendants before representation was closed after auditors concluded the step is impracticable (defendants often are first located at arraignment and judges commonly assess eligibility at that time). No material financial loss to the county was found in that review.

On the larger animal-services audit, Rhodes said the report contained roughly 38 primary recommendations (closer to 50 when subitems are counted). About 15 items are implemented and 10 are closed, she said, leaving roughly a third still in progress. Major outstanding items include formal written policies, interlocal agreements and a fee schedule that auditors described as out of date; Rhodes noted county adoption fees were about $90 at the high end compared with roughly $200 in neighboring jurisdictions.

Rhodes said the department plans to move to a new point-of-sale system in June and that a newly funded staff position intended to handle community engagement and policy work should free bandwidth for completing the policy manual and fee schedule revision. Commissioners suggested publishing completed internal audits and promoting a county fraud hotline on the county website to increase transparency.

Chair praised Rhodes's work and commissioners discussed ensuring audit responses and any objections are memorialized in writing and returned to the audit committee for tracking. Rhodes said the evidence-room access issue had already been addressed and that the audit committee can request an interim update if members want faster verification than the planned August follow-up.

The audit presentations concluded with commissioners thanking Rhodes and noting that some audit items are quick to implement while others require more time and formal policy changes.