Several concerns regarding financial operations and oversight of the Inmate Trust Fund have been raised repeatedly in audits dating back to at least 2009. Those findings including warnings of the potential for “misappropriation of funds” or “impropriety.”

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Justin Green said earlier in February that the funds were first discovered to be missing internally in 2012. He said the agency has been unable to rectify the issue on its own.

Interim Sheriff Michelle Robinette told the Tulsa World earlier in February that an employee who had been involved with inmate funds accounting for several years resigned before an internal investigation into the matter was finished. The person was a corporal when she resigned, Robinette said, adding that she hopes the special audit can untangle the web enough for criminal charges to be filed.

“We couldn’t pursue anything criminal at the time based on the internal investigation,” Robinette said. “So we knew something, but we didn’t know how much or how, and we couldn’t find it.”

In the latest audit, the Sheriff’s Office responded that the reconciliation in the future will include the noted missing elements to then “show a true and complete reconciliation” of the account.