Texas Department of Public Safety
A Legislative Information Review of the Texas Department of Public Safety
Report Number 97-087
August 1997
Overall Conclusion
Management control weaknesses in key support systems at the Texas Department of Public Safety (Department) diminish accountability and increase the risk of higher costs. Examples of financial planning weaknesses included: misclassified budgeting needs ($4.7 million), inaccurate cost estimates ($792,000) and missed savings ($285,000) for fiscal year 1996. The Department, with an annual budget of more than $270 million, needs to improve its essential management operations and also its accountability to the Legislature and the general public. We identified these weaknesses during our review of certain Department operations. The review was conducted in response to Legislative inquiries.
Management's practice in the past suggests that important administrative improvements may not occur until problems surface. For instance, the Department has not implemented audit recommendations related to information systems for six years. Our concern is that until specific problems occur, management will not implement recommendations and controls will not improve.
Specific recommendations in this report address weaknesses identified in human resources management, information systems management, state and federal compliance, and financial reporting. Overall, we recommend that the Public Safety Commission ensure that the Department implements recommendations, and we encourage the Department to continue to find additional ways to improve operations and reduce costs.
Key Facts and Findings
The Department needs to improve essential management operations by:
Revising key aspects of human resource policies that influence employee effectiveness
Implementing previous audit recommendations on information resources to save money
and improve information quality
Continuing to look for potential savings
The Department should also improve accountability to the Legislature and general public by complying with statutes on open records and with federal requirements on forfeited assets to minimize the risk of losing federal funds, and taking the initiative to recognize and meet the informational needs of the Legislature and the general public.
Contact the SAO about this report.
Download the PDF version of this report. (.pdf)
HTML Equivalent (utilizing Adobe's PDF Conversion by Simple Form).