Morrow County adopts new segregation, donations and fraud policies

The Morrow County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt three finance policies intended to strengthen internal controls and satisfy federal grant compliance requirements.

The board approved resolution R-2026-14 establishing a formal segregation-of-duties policy after finance staff said the move was prompted by a grant compliance review. Finance Director presented the policy and explained it documents internal controls already in practice and provides a process for documenting exceptions and mitigating controls where ideal segregation is not feasible.

Commissioner discussion focused on practical impacts, including how the policy would apply where duties are combined in a single office. Mike, who described his office—s role in collecting large county revenues, said his main concern was that his department has not had a deep audit review recently and asked for staff collaboration before formal adoption. Finance staff and commissioners agreed to allow staff to meet with affected departments to document any necessary mitigating controls.

The board also adopted resolution R-2026-12, a non-cash donations and contributions policy that requires departments to record donated goods and services at imputed or market value and to follow a standardized intake and valuation process. Finance staff said the change responds to audit recommendations and will require departmental training.

Finally, the commission approved resolution R-2026-13 updating policy 7L (county fraud, theft and loss of county property) to add notification requirements to grant administrators and granting agencies when grant-related assets are lost or stolen.

All three measures passed on recorded motions; the board directed staff to work with impacted departments to refine implementation details and return to the board if materially different risk exposures are identified.