The initial review would focus on recent budget errors, followed by a second examination reaching back two more years.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma County commissioners voted unanimously Friday to seek a two-stage state audit of accounting errors reported by the County Clerk’s Office.
The first stage would cover January 2025 through the present, allowing the state Auditor and Inspector’s Office to focus on numbers the county needs to complete its fiscal 2027 budget.
Commissioners’ motion calls for a second engagement with the state auditor immediately after that work is completed to examine the preceding two years.
The cost and precise scope of each stage would be established through engagement letters with the state auditor.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna recommended beginning with the narrower review because the county faces an Oct. 8 deadline to complete its budget. She said the state auditor’s staff believes it can identify the source of the recent discrepancies and provide accurate budget figures within one or two weeks.
Behenna said she had no evidence of criminal activity beyond a previously reported embezzlement inquiry that is already under investigation.
An expanded audit could take months, she said, but commissioners agreed that the longer review should follow the initial work.
The special meeting agenda described the proposed review as a “Special Investigative Audit” into errors discovered during the fiscal 2026 review and fiscal 2027 budget-planning process.
Commissioners discussed extending the review after Interim Commissioner Paul Foster said accounting problems involving the clerk’s office had persisted for about three years.
Foster said his district learned Thursday that $93,000 in employee-benefit expenses had been placed in a travel account on an August financial report.
Commissioner Jason Lowe argued that the audit should begin with records from July 1, 2023, rather than midway through a budget year.
“This is not an accusation against anyone,” Lowe said. “An independent audit is how we establish the facts.”
Resolution dies after correction
A separate resolution addressing the reconciliation of county accounts died for lack of a motion after the District Attorney’s Office corrected the version posted with Friday’s agenda.
The posted version incorrectly described a fiscal 2025 reconciliation finding as a repeat of findings from fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024. Assistant District Attorney Lisa Erickson Endres said the finding appeared only in the fiscal 2025 draft audit.
The corrected resolution would have recommended that the clerk and county treasurer reconcile their accounts monthly. Commissioners discussed bringing back another version but took no action Friday.
Treasurer says money is accounted for
Oklahoma County Treasurer Butch Freeman told commissioners that his office balances the county’s cash daily and provides the clerk’s office with the information needed to reconcile its accounting records.
“We know where every dollar is that the county has, we know what bank it’s in, and we know what fund that dollar belongs to,” Freeman said.
“There are no missing dollars,” he added. “There never was, and there’s not today.”
County Clerk Maressa Treat previously said no county money had been found missing and attributed the discrepancies to incorrectly entered dates or financial figures. She has said she welcomes an audit and will cooperate with auditors.
The audit request follows two major budget corrections. One involved $14.05 million omitted from a fiscal 2026 budget calculation. A separate fiscal 2027 reconciliation reduced reported available General Fund resources by about $10.16 million. The figures involve different accounting issues and should not be combined.
Oklahoma County Assessor Larry Stein had asked commissioners Thursday to consider whether Treat should temporarily step aside during the audit. Commissioners did not discuss that suggestion during Friday’s meeting.
