Use of Equitable Sharing Revenues by the Nebraska State Patrol, Lincoln, Nebraska

Audit Report GR-60-06-003
February 2006
Office of the Inspector General

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division, has completed an audit of the use of DOJ equitable sharing revenues received by the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP). Equitable sharing revenues represent a share of the proceeds from the forfeiture of assets seized in the course of certain criminal investigations.1 During the period of July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2005, the NSP was awarded DOJ equitable sharing revenues totaling $2,579,902, and property valued at $95,031 to support law enforcement operations. We reviewed the NSP’s compliance with six essential equitable sharing guidelines and found that the NSP generally complied with the guidelines. However, we found weaknesses in the following three areas: The Annual Certification Reports submitted for the fiscal years (FY) 2004 and 2005 contained inaccurate information and were not complete. A new Federal Sharing Agreement was not submitted when an administration change occurred. We identified $115,340 in questioned costs related to expenditures of equitable sharing revenues for unallowable purposes. We also identified an additional $70,000 in expenditures that were unsupported. The results of our work are discussed in greater detail in the Findings and Recommendations section of this report. The audit objectives, scope, and methodology appear in Appendix I. We discussed the results of our audit with NSP officials and have included their comments in the report, as applicable. In addition, we provided the NSP and the DOJ, Criminal Division, with a draft copy of our audit report and requested a formal response. The NSP provided a response to the draft report which is shown in our report at Appendix III. The Criminal Division did not provide a response to the draft report. Footnotes The DOJ asset forfeiture program has three primary goals: (1) to punish and deter criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used or acquired through illegal activities; (2) to enhance cooperation among foreign, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies through equitable sharing of assets recovered through this program; and, as a by-product, (3) to produce revenues to enhance forfeitures and strengthen law enforcement.