Seward County Commissioners on Dec. 9 approved Sheriff Mike Vance’s new purchase order policy for expenditure of forfeiture funds, involving a five-member Forfeiture Asset Committee to review expenditures.
County Commissioners Darrell Zabrocki and Scott Pekarek had been working with Vance on a county policy statement to implement a purchase order process for several weeks, and the version adopted is the departmental policy Vance put into use in October with a few additions and amendments.
Policy SSO 055 was approved as county policy with the inclusion of a numbered purchase order form that includes information on who approved, denied or made pending expenditures, a comment line for that action, and a change to require review by the county board for purchases exceeding $1,000 instead of $3,000.
The two policies were similar, but commissioners noted that Vance’s version included additional departmental details.
Vance said there is some redundancy in the system because expenditures are recorded in the department’s Zuercher database, but the purchase order document can be uploaded into the digital file.
He said the process will increase the transparency around the use of forfeiture funds the county receives back from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury related to drug interdiction activity in the county.
Vance used Lancaster County’s forfeiture asset purchase order policy as a template, which was originally created by Todd Duncan of the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association (NIRMA).
That plan required only four people to comprise the review committee, all sheriff’s department employees. Seward County’s version calls for a five-person committee with two members being county commissioners.
This limits instances where committee members could have a tied vote, but also improves the chances that at least one commissioner can attend the group’s meetings.
In a Dec. 11 interview, Vance said the committee’s first meeting on Dec. 10 with four members present went well. Pekarek was not available to attend the meeting.
In other action on Dec. 9, the commission:
• Approved two utility permits for Norris Public Power District to bore in the right of way, one south of 252nd Road and Bluff Road and the other south of 210th Road and Old Mill Road.
• Renewed the county’s interlocal agreement with Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD) and endorsed its amended bylaws, which enable the district to purchase land for housing and other projects.
• Advised the roads department to work toward vacation of a road between 392nd and 406th road in M Precinct which is not a through road and ends on a section line surrounded by farmland.
• Authorized a contract with Campbell Cleaning for janitorial services in county buildings.
• Authorized two contracts for Vanguard Appraisals for service involving the Seward County Assessor’s website and archives.
• Met in executive session for about 50 minutes to discuss personnel.
