TULSA -- An audit into the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office showed more than $150,000 missing and no justification for it. A former TCSO Detention Officer said she isn't surprised by the results.
"That isn't shocking," Former TCSO Detention Officer Regina Striplin said. "I've been talking about it for years."
As a Tulsa County Sheriff's Office former employee, Striplin says she heard a lot.
"I used to have females come up to me all the time, saying that somebody put money on their books and they didn't get their money," Striplin said.
An audit shows $188,000 unaccounted for.
"You're a sheriff's office and this was done within your company and you're accountable to the citizens," Striplin said. "That is citizens money."
Striplin says at the time she didn't know what to tell inmates or their families.
"The generic answer was always, 'Sometimes it takes up to a week or two to put the money on the books,'" she said. "A week or two later, I would have an inmate again."
Former Mayor Dewey Bartlett says bookkeeping was a mess.
"It was discovered that there were a large number of people were paid but didn't work at the jail," he said. "They're working in the courthouse or someplace else, but they had nothing to do with the operation of the jail. There were vehicles that were purchased by jail money, but they weren't being used for jail purposes."
Bartlett says he and others worked for years to get answers.
"It wasn't just me, it was two other mayors," he said. "It was the Mayor of Sand Springs and the Mayor of Owasso, but we were the minority unfortunately."
In 2012, a former Tulsa County Corporal admitted to taking $1,000 a month for a year. She then resigned.
"If I stole $12,000, I would be handcuffed immediately," Striplin said. "So I'm confused as to how someone is allowed to just resign."
Now, Striplin hopes that Corporal will be charged.
District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement that he plans to review the findings and determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
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