Audit: Clark County witness voucher system should be updated, reviewed

An audit of the Clark County District Attorney’s victim witness fees and expenses released Friday made several recommendations, including updating an antiquated 20-year-old voucher payment system and regularly reviewing calculations of payments made to witnesses.

The district attorney’s office covers certain expenses for out-of-town witnesses including travel, food and lodging expenses. In some cases, companions of underage witnesses — for instance a 12-year-old who needed to be accompanied by a parent — also were paid.

The audit looked at 560 vouchers from 2011 to 2013.

“The current voucher form being used for victim and witness payment has been in existence for over twenty years and could benefit from a redesign. We found that while all information necessary for immediate explanation of expense payment may not be located on the face of the voucher, it was available in the supporting documentation or case files,” according to the 12-page audit.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s office has begun implementing some of the recommendations, according to a memo dated May 20.

The district attorney’s office randomly will review vouchers every week to make sure expense calculations are correct, the memo said.

By July 7, the voucher will be redesigned in accordance with the audit’s recommendations, including spaces to help calculate mileage traveled, parking expenses or bus fares.

The district attorney’s office will pay a $25 trial appearance fee but will no longer pay pre-trial appearance fees.

The issue of victim witness fees was raised during a sexual assault trial in October, when defense lawyers Dan Bunin and Dayvid Figler questioned the credibility of prosecution witnesses partly because they were elusive about how much they were paid in witness fees and other expenses. One witness said she was paid $800 during the trial.

Confusion about the fees were exasperated when a representative from the district attorney’s office testified the receipts for the fees were destroyed. It turned out, the receipts were not destroyed, but kept in a separate location.

Jurors acquitted the defendant of all but one misdemeanor count but said their not guilty verdict had more to do with not believing the witnesses regarding the alleged crime, rather than the cost of the witness fees.

Over the past five years, the county has budgeted more than $1 million for witness fees and mileage. But since 2011, records show, the district attorney’s office has spent less than $1 million annually on witness fees and mileage.

In the last fiscal year, $1.2 million was budgeted for witness fees and mileage, but about $866,000 was spent. And through October this fiscal year, the district attorney’s office has spent about $229,000. The county’s fiscal year begins in July.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @fjmccabe on Twitter.