FRANKFORT, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Two current and two former Supreme Court Justices are mentioned in the report that Auditor Mike Harmon says found significant concerns including questionable financial dealings, lack of transparency and policy for dealing with such issues as leasing office space from family members.
"Auditors identified at least $2 million in inventory system errors which puts AOC at high risk for assets to go missing,” Harmon said.
Like laptops, auditors could not account for in which an employee admitted they never really counted at the time of delivery.
The special examination looked at the Administrative Office of the Courts from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2017, and began at the request of the Executive Officer and Chief Justice John Minton.
"Our report contains 20 findings and identifies a wide range of areas that definitely need corrective action. Overall, we found disorganized and unchecked leadership in a number of the areas at AOC,” Harmon said.
Among the findings, Harmon's investigators reported that a former executive officer oversaw an employee only sale of surplus state property. He chose the items and set the prices.
"This former executive officer purchased multiple items at employee-only sales and oversaw including two vehicles that were advertised as having 47,000 and 79,000 more miles than what records show they actually had,” Harmon said.
Those findings, Harmon said, were sent to the Attorney General's office for review.
Officials with the auditor's office also claim a former Deputy Chief Justice Mary Noble purchased furniture from the sale and there are questions about documentation on office space leases.
Former Justice Will T. Scott purchased a vehicle from an employee-only sale.
A finding regarding mileage reporting involving current Justice Samuel T. Wright was sent to the Kentucky Department of Revenue and the IRS.
They also found the courts lease property from a company owned by Justice Wright's son.
"The lease file also failed to provide a reason why. Why the property was selected when it costs three times more than an alternative proposal for office space,” Harmon said.
There's no current policy regarding leasing from relatives.
The special examination also questioned a lack of documentation for credit cards held by Chief Justice Minton and AOC Director and the purchase of mint julep cups for guests of a meeting. Auditor Harmon says the directive came from Justice Minton's wife.
The auditor called it an inappropriate use of government funds.
In a statement, the AOC expressed appreciation for the review. It pointed out that they requested the examination and had already begun taking corrective actions including adopting new oversight policies regarding surplus inventory and consulting a tax attorney to review reimbursement.