The audit of the Department of Law Enforcement (Department) focused on the collection and use of court costs and fees pursuant to Section 943.25, Florida Statutes, and accountability for evidence and seized property in the various evidence storage locations throughout the State.  The audit included activities from July 2002 through January 2004.  As summarized below, several areas relating to the use of the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Trust Fund (Trust Fund) for officer training need to be addressed.  Additionally, the requirements specified in several sections of the Florida Statutes should be reevaluated given existing accounting, budgeting, and auditing practices.

Trust Fund

Finding No. 1:        The funding methodology utilized in the Legislative Budget Requests (LBR) and the annual allocations to training regions for training courses established within the Criminal Justice Professionalism Program does not address several significant elements that impact overall training costs, such as the nature of the training provided, the number of officers trained, or the different cost structures associated with more complex curriculum.

Finding No. 2:        In some instances, the Trust Fund provides funding for significantly less than 100 percent of the necessary and proper training costs, but the training schools do not report to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission the costs paid from other sources, such as the Department of Education.

Department Audits

Finding No. 3:        Department auditors do not determine the cost components of course cost rates for officers in their review of training school financial records.  Our review disclosed prohibited costs included in the rates and incorrectly calculated rates.

Finding No. 4:        Department auditors, during their review of training schools, do not verify reported interest earned on Trust Fund moneys transferred to and held by those schools.

Finding No. 5:        Department audits of training schools are conducted two to three years after the close of the periods under audit.  This delay may cause the findings to lose relevance when changes occur in personnel, curriculum, and applicable laws and rules governing officer training.

Statutory Matters

Finding No. 6:        The Annual Seized and Forfeited Property Report compiled by the Department pursuant to Section 932.7055, Florida Statutes, is incomplete and inaccurate.  Further, since it is not clear that this report is used by either the Department or other potential report users, the reporting requirement should be eliminated.

Finding No. 7:        The Department should comply with Section 938.07, Florida Statutes, relating to the deposit of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) court costs or continue to seek statutory revisions to reflect current deposit and appropriation practices.

Given the existence of other statutory oversight processes, the Legislature should consider eliminating the criminal justice selection center audit requirement specified in Section 943.2569, Florida Statutes.

The Commissioner's written response to the audit findings and recommendations can be viewed as a part of the complete report filed on this Auditor General web site.