Two Carroll County Sheriff’s Office employees collected at least $128,710 paid for weapons training classes that should have been deposited with the county, an investigative audit released Thursday shows.

Deputy Tom Fransen and Shanna Balukoff, an administrative assistant for the department, taught classes taken by people who wished to obtain a permit to carry weapons. The classes were taught in Carroll’s courthouse and county equipment was used to teach the classes.

The classes were outside of Fransen's and Balukoff's official job duties and they did not receive additional pay to perform the classes. They have taught the classes since 2011 split the $30 to $50 payments they received from people who took their course, according to an audit released Thursday by State Auditor Mary Mosiman.

The money belonged to the county because the classes used taxpayer resources and was specifically sponsored by the sheriff’s office, Mosiman said in the audit, citing Iowa law.

The total includes $20,082 in which Balukoff substituted checks written to the county for payment of the classes with cash from the sheriff’s normal operations, the audit shows.

The audit was launched following a request from a person identified as Jon Thomas, who in July 2016 sought records showing where money from the classes was deposited.

Shortly after the request the classes were moved off county property and reference to the sheriff’s department was removed from online materials. Late last year, both Fransen and Balukoff opened new bank accounts titled “Gun Class” to deposit the fees received from the courses, the audit shows.

The Democratic Party, individual political candidates, religious groups, the United Way, AFLAC insurance and Toastmasters International are among those who have also been allowed to use the Carroll County courthouse in recent years without paying rent. Thursday's audit noted those issues, noting a state law that employees who allow private use of government property face possible "nonfelonious misconduct in office" charges.

"Allowing county employees to use the courthouse to teach the class and not charging rent for its use provides them an unfair advantage over private companies who provide the same service," the audit says.

A copy of the audit was provided to the Carroll County Attorney’s office.

Fransen, who makes $61,516 a year, could not immediately be reached for comment. Balukoff, who makes $39,281 a year, declined to speak about the matter. Both, as of Thursday afternoon, continued to work for the county.

Calls to Carroll County Sheriff Ken Pingrey were not immediately returned. County Attorney John Werden issued a two-sentence statement Thursday that said the audit has been received by his office and "will be carefully reviewed."

Online records do not indicate any charges filed in connection to the issues raised in Thursday’s audit.

A new state law took effect in 2011, generally eliminating a sheriff's ability to deny permits to carry weapons in public for anything other than criminal and mental health record. The law requires a training course.

A Register investigation in 2013 found that hundreds of Iowans had taken a free online course offered by the Maryland Police Training Commission to meet the training requirement.

The course provides instruction in such areas as cleaning a gun or safe storage. But it offers no assistance in teaching people about how to safely carry a loaded firearm or situations when it would be appropriate for a gun to be used.

The Iowa State Sheriffs' & Deputies' Association has advocated for standardized training. Concerns about the online courses continue, John Godar, the past president of the association and a major for the Linn County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

“It’s frustrating to me because I’ve always been an advocate of good training," Godar said.