The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office misused at least $50 million from a fund for jail operations, and county supervisors may have to use the general fund to repay the money, top county officials say.

Findings by the county's Office of Management and Budget show the Sheriff's Office tapped the money to pay for functions not allowed under jail-fund rules, such as salaries for deputies who worked on public-corruption investigations into county supervisors and judges.

The findings will be presented publicly for the first time at 10 a.m. today to the Board of Supervisors.

"A very substantial amount of money is going to have to be paid back to the jail fund," County Manager David Smith told The Republic. "It's just a monumental financial headache that (Sheriff Joe Arpaio) has created."

The county would not release detailed findings Tuesday, saying the material was protected by executive-session rules, but officials provided The Republic with the key finding: $50 million in misspent detention funds.

They said the county's report will cover problems dating back about four years and involving travel, use of county credit cards and extradition trips.

Separate investigations by The Republic have documented the questionable use of public funds by high-ranking sheriff's officials, who routinely used county-issued credit cards to charge expensive meals and stays at luxury hotels.

The Republic also found that another fund meant to improve conditions in county jails was spent by sheriff's officials on out-of-state training, stays at luxury hotels, a staff party at a local amusement park and a $456,000 bus to transport inmates to court. That bus remains parked in a county lot because supervisors have refused to license and insure it, claiming it was illegally purchased.

Top sheriff's officials met with county budget officials Tuesday afternoon on the matter. Lt. Brian Lee, a Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the office "will continue to meet with them and work with them to try and resolve the discrepancies."

County officials largely substantiated their findings through records provided by the Sheriff's Office under a subpoena.

Budget officials said the most egregious misspending came from the sheriff's detention fund, which makes up a large portion of the sheriff's budget.

That money comes from a general sales tax approved by voters. Its use is restricted to spending on jail items such as food, detention officers' salaries and equipment.

County officials said they found the Sheriff's Office used that money elsewhere:

��For years, it used detention-fund money to pay for employees to patrol Maricopa County, among other duties.

��County human-resources data, information from a racial-profiling lawsuit and other documents show many Sheriff's Office employees were not working in the same job assignments recorded for them in county records.

Money used to pay for staffers performing duties not allowed under the tax has to be paid back, county officials said.

��In some instances, sheriff's administrators are believed to have used money from the agency's detention fund to pay for controversial public-corruption investigations and activities involving its human-smuggling unit and other units.

The questioned spending came at a time when sheriff's officials failed to meet the state-mandated function of getting inmates to court on time, prompting a chief deputy to be held in contempt.

The board could consider a range of budgetary actions today against the Sheriff's Office.

For example, it could put the agency on a restricted budget or impose new administrative policies to try to prevent future misspending.

Officials agree the county must act to reimburse the jail fund. The board could decide to make a lump-sum payment, reimburse the fund over time, or take the money out of the county's contingency fund.

"I believe we are obligated to pay (the money) back," said Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson, who oversees the county Office of Management and Budget. "I don't know if we have to do it all at once, but I believe it has to be paid back."

Smith said the overall impact would be significant, although it is too early to determine just how deeply it will affect county operations.

This summer, the Sheriff's Office turned over 70 boxes covering five years of financial documents subpoenaed by the board.

Budget officials have been reviewing the records and recently hired an attorney at a yearly salary of $109,000 to help study the records and advise on spending issues.

Last week, the supervisors reinstated a portion of the sheriff's yearly share of federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act funds and jail-enhancement funds. Months ago, supervisors withheld those funds amid concerns of possible misspending.

Those funds have been the center of a separate legal battle between the supervisors and Arpaio.

The board has set a hearing next Wednesday for the Sheriff's Office to appear and explain why it should not be held in contempt for not turning over additional financial and other records.