The Unit Commander shall:
- Obtain the Special Appropriation Fund money from Fiscal Administration as outlined in section 3-05/050.05;
- Ensure that incurred expenses are consistent with appropriate and reasonable use of public monies;
- Assign the handling of the money to a “fund custodian,” who shall be vested with the responsibility of maintaining and providing monies as directed;
- Assign the record keeping function to an employee who shall be charged with reviewing expense claims for accuracy and completeness, preparing the Bureau’s weekly claim, distributing reimbursements of claimed expenses, and safekeeping of all documents;
- Approve the sub-assignments of the Special Appropriation Fund money by signing the “Blue” form;
- Review and approve the Bureau’s weekly expense claim;,
- Ensure that the original approved Bureau’s claim is sent directly to Division headquarters by a person other than the claim preparer; and
- Direct a Lieutenant or a Sergeant, with no Special Appropriation Fund responsibilities, to reconcile the fund on a quarterly basis, unannounced. The reconciliation shall be documented and any discrepancy shall be reported to the Unit Commander. The fund’s assigned amount should equal the sum of cash on hand, in addition to the “Blue” receipts that are marked ADVANCE. Documentation may be in the form of a line entry on the log maintained by the fund custodian.
Fund Custodian
The Unit Commander shall assign a fund custodian, who shall be someone other than the Bureau’s record keeper. The assigned person shall:
- With the approval of the Unit Commander, disburse the Bureau’s advanced money to Unit members using a “Blue” form marked ADVANCE;
- Mark the “Blue” CANCELLED when the money is returned, and return the “Blue” to the borrower;
- Keep a log to record all disbursed money and its return. This log shall include two sections:
- Advance - shall include fields for the URN file number or the purpose of advancing the money, the date the money was advanced, the person giving the money, the name of the person receiving the advance, and its amount; and
- Return of the Advance - shall include fields for the amount returned (which should equal the advanced amount), and the name of the person returning the money, person receiving the money and the date the money was returned;
- Reconcile the advance log against the assigned amount on a daily basis. The assigned fund should equal the sum of the cash on hand and the log entries that are showing that the advance money is still with a designated person, which is supported with a “Blue” receipt marked ADVANCE.
Bureau’s Record Keeper
The Unit Commander shall assign an employee, who shall be someone other than the fund custodian, to review, control, and document the processing of the Bureau’s expense claims. The assigned person shall:
- Receive the individual/Detail/Unit expense claims from the supervisors;
- Review the expense claims for completeness and accuracy;
- Ensure that the claimed expenses are supported with original receipts, invoices, notes, etc., and a brief statement explaining the nature and the need for the expenses;
- Prepare a weekly Bureau claim to consolidate all the individual and Unit claims (see section 3-05/050.15 for instruction on completing the claim);
- Submit the Bureau’s claim to the Unit Commander for approval;
NOTE: The original approved Bureau claim shall be sent directly to Division headquarters by the Unit Commander.
- Maintain a Claim Log to document claims that are sent to Division headquarters and the receipt of reimbursements. Information on this log shall include the Bureau’s control number (e.g., two digits for the year, the month and the week or claim sequence), amount of the claim, date sent to Division headquarters and the date money is received;
- Maintain in a central file of all the weekly claims and their supporting documents;,
- When the reimbursement money is received, the Bureau’s record keeper shall:
- Hand count the money to ensure delivery of the proper amount;
- Sign and date the original Bureau’s claim, which shall accompany the person who is delivering the reimbursement, to indicate that the claimed money has been received as appropriate;
- Pull the individual expense claims that correspond to the weekly Bureau claim; and
- Ask the claimants to sign the “Received by” field on their original expense claims, and hand count and give the money to the individuals;
NOTE: Undelivered money shall be kept overnight in the Bureau’s safe.
- Receive and file with the appropriate individual claim any report of overage and its associated cash receipt.
Claimant/Investigators
- Obtaining the advance:
- Discuss the investigator’s need with his immediate supervisor and obtain approval
- Document the request by explaining the nature and the need for the expenses in a memo; and
- Prepare form “SH CR 175” (AKA “Blue”). The “Blue” shall be marked ADVANCE and it shall be signed by the Unit Commander;
- Expending the money:
- investigators must ensure that incurred expenses are consistent with appropriate and reasonable use of public monies;
- Claiming the expenses:
- Complete the Special Appropriation Expense Claim “SH AD 103,” as soon as the investigation is concluded (see section 3-05/050.15 for details). The claim shall be totally itemized and either typed or in ink;
- Attach verifying receipts, notes, etc., and the request memo to the expense claim; and
- Submit the completed claim to the immediate supervisor for review and approval;
- receiving reimbursement and buying back the “Blue”:
- When the money for the approved claim is received from the Bureau’s record keeper, the investigator shall sign and date the original expense claim in the field captioned “Received by” and count the money; and
- As soon as practical, hand deliver the entire advanced money to the fund custodian and buy back the “Blue.”
Supervisor
The claimant's immediate supervisor and the supervisors in the chain of command shall:
- Ensure that incurred expenses are consistent with appropriate and reasonable use of public monies;
- Approve expending money from the Special Appropriation Fund after discussing the investigation’s needs with the investigator;
- Review all expense supporting documents to determine whether expenses conform with proper use of the Special Appropriation Fund;
- Review the expense claims to ensure that authorized expenses were accurately recorded;
- Consolidate the individual claims into a Team, Unit, or Detail claim by attaching a new SH AD 103 reflecting the total;
- Submit the Unit expense claims to the Unit Commander for approval; and
- Hand deliver the approved Unit claim accompanied by the claims of the individuals/Teams, with the supporting documents, to the record keeper to process the Bureau’s expense claim.
Division Personnel/Budget Representative shall:
- Consolidate each Bureau’s claim into a weekly Division claim by using a SH-AD-3;
- Submit the weekly Division claim to the Chief or Division Director or the authorized Commander for review and signature. Make and keep a copy of the approved Division’s claim;
- Forward the approved original claim to Fiscal Administration, Billing and Revenue section, for reimbursement;
- Arrange for the money to be delivered to the concerned Bureaus on the same day. The person responsible for delivering the money shall receive and count the money for delivery to the Bureaus, and shall sign the Division copy of the claim indicating the receipt of the money. The signed Division claim shall be kept at Division headquarters;
- Give the original Bureaus’ claims to the person responsible for delivering the money to the Bureaus. Each Bureau’s claim shall be signed by the Bureau’s record keeper, or the Bureau representative, in the field captioned “Received by” to indicate that money has been received;
- Instruct the person responsible for delivering the money to return the signed original Bureau claim;
- Locate the copy of the Division claim and attach it to the signed Bureau claim;
- In chronological order, keep the signed Division’s claim copy attached to the original Bureau claim for audit or inspection purposes. Claims must be kept for five years; and
- Receive and file with the appropriate Bureau claim any report (copy) of overage and its associated cash receipt.
Fiscal Procedures
The Special Appropriation Fund clerk assigned to Fiscal Administration shall review all claims for signature authenticity and for proper accountability procedures. When found to be proper, the clerk shall process the reimbursement. Reimbursements shall not be made when claims are in error or not properly approved with the signature of the Chief, Division Director, or authorized Commander.
After the necessary processing and reimbursement has been made, the clerk shall prepare and forward the Sheriff's Special Appropriation Fund Claim Reimbursement Letter, through channels, to the Sheriff or Undersheriff for review and approval. The letter is then returned to Fiscal Administration on or before 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday of each week for forwarding to the Auditor-Controller for reimbursement.