A review by auditors of the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office during Wesley Bell’s tenure didn’t find substantial wrongdoing, but the limited investigation left some county council members disappointed.
The Missouri state auditor’s office reviewed credit card statements, travel expenses, Sunshine Law compliance and whether prosecutors use county time to work secondary jobs as judges or prosecutors for other municipalities.
Auditors said the review was limited in scope by its nature — the council requested an investigation earlier this year and not an audit, which auditors said would produce more thorough results. Auditors reviewed the prior year or two under former Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell.
Auditors found that the prosecuting attorney’s office regularly responded to Sunshine requests within the first three days but that the office could improve response time after that.
They didn’t find a pattern of systemic violations of the office's travel policy, though they found one instance in which an employee stayed an extra night while traveling and one meal that wasn’t properly noted. Auditors suggested that office supervisors better enforce its credit card policy for food and travel.
“There were some policy violations, and the current prosecutor indicated that they are going to adhere to strict adherence to policy going forward without exceptions,” said Kelly Davis of the state auditor's office.
County council members passed a resolution in January asking the state to look for waste, fraud and abuse in the office. Current Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith, who was sworn in in January, supported the investigation.
The resolution followed concerns over whether county prosecutors were working as municipal prosecutors while working county hours. There were reports that at least nine prosecutors were also working as prosecutors and judges in other municipalities.
Auditors said they found more than 43 instances in which prosecutors’ hours potentially overlapped with their second job and did not take paid time off from the prosecuting attorney's office. Smith’s office reached out to the other municipalities and concluded most were not working second jobs while on the clock and that only two of those instances could not be explained, they said. Auditors said that about 51% of those timesheets weren’t signed off by a supervisor but that Price’s office has started a policy to ensure all timesheets are signed by supervisors weekly and that workers use paid time off when working for other municipalities.
Councilmembers shared both relief and frustration over the results.
“I think what we're seeing is that those concerns didn't necessarily pan out,” Councilwoman Lisa Clancy said. “And I'm encouraged that we have a prosecuting attorney that has already taken action to course correct some of the minor issues that they found.”
But some council members were concerned over the limited scope of the review. The council’s resolution had requested that the state review county prosecutor records from the past six years. Davis said the department typically focuses on the most recent years before deciding to go back further.
“I think that what we were looking for is clearly not what we got here, in my opinion," council Chair Rita Heard Days said.
Councilman Mark Harder, who introduced the resolution, said he was disappointed in the results but hopes to discuss next steps with the auditors and what they might cost. The review was free, but an audit could cost the county more than $300,000.
“Based on what we saw today, we would have to have a hard sit-down with the state auditor's office and really focus in and hone in the level and scope of what we're paying for,” Harder said.
