An investigative audit regarding the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Trust Account, which was requested by the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office in January of 2016, was provided and released Monday by the Office of the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector.  This report documents significant deficiencies that existed with respect to the inmate trust account during the past decade at the Sheriff’s Office. 

At the time of the District Attorney’s audit request, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office was also under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation as well as by a grand jury empaneled in Tulsa County.

“The contents of the State Auditor and Inspector’s report reflect a comprehensive effort to document deficiencies in how the Inmate Trust Account was maintained,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler stated.  “Certainly, this report sheds light on legitimate concerns which should have been corrected years ago by the Sheriff’s Office.”

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler

“We are reviewing the findings of this report now to determine whether there are criminal matters to pursue,” Kunzweiler said.

Kunzweiler noted that he is “disappointed” in the underlying facts discovered by the Auditor and Inspector who reported that “Given the substantial volume of missing, unreadable and inaccurate records we cannot determine accurate amount of funds that have either been misappropriated or are the result of the erroneous and undetected accounting errors during the 2007-2012 time periods.”

“My Office has been in contact with Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, and we are confident that under his administration the gross inadequacies as documented by the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office are either rectified or being addressed,” Kunzweiler stated.