Receipts clear up questions at Seward jail

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BY ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

The financial cloud hanging over the commissary fund at the Seward County jail was swept away Tuesday during a meeting between county commissioners and Seward County Sheriff Joe Yocum.

Yocum produced receipts for about $8,500 worth of expenditures that could not be accounted for in a recent annual audit.

Yocum was able to show that money raised from the sale of toothpaste, envelopes and other entries on prisoner shopping lists had been spent on such necessities as a new freezer, computers for booking in new inmates, and security cameras.

“None of this went into anybody’s pocket,” the sheriff said shortly after emerging from a commissioner briefing.

“I initiated an accounting system that was supposed to be in place a year ago when the auditors said they would like a better system for the accounts of the commissary,” he said.

“I was under the impression it had all been sorted out, figured out and that it was running.“

It wasn’t — but now it is. Now there is a clear record of all income and expenses, Yocum said.

Concern about a lack of accountability in the commissary budget have come up before and were raised again two weeks ago.

Much of that concern was that proceeds were not turned in to the county treasurer. Commission Chairman Joe Ruzicka also noted that there was no way to monitor that area of jail finances to see if it was making or losing money.

Ruzicka said Tuesday that the focus of commissioner questions was never on anybody from the jail staff doing anything illegal or unethical. “I think it was just mainly accountability.”

Having seen the receipts, “I think everybody is fine on that,” he said. “I think we’re satisfied with the actions taken.”

The only lingering uncertainties are about whether toothpaste, envelopes and other incidental prisoner purchases would be more efficiently handled by the company under contract to provide meals.

“We did ask (Yocum) to go ahead and put together some type of cost analysis of how much time it’s taking (county employees) to do that,” Ruzicka said.

Reach Art Hovey at (402) 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.