The Deschutes County Clerk’s Office has been inconsistent in using a competitive process to choose contractors and in requiring contracts for the deals.

There’s no fraud. Money hasn’t gone missing.

In one instance, the clerk’s office has been working with certain vendors stretching back years, because they are experienced in working with elections. There is trust. But there should be formal contracts in place to protect the county from risk. And those contracts are not in place.

The county’s internal auditor uncovered it.

“The Clerk’s Office inconsistently complied with the Code regarding payments to vendors. In some cases, either there was no contract, there was no signature when the amount was above the threshold of $50,000, there was no competitive procurement process, or a combination of the factors applied,” according to a county internal audit.

In 2023, the clerk’s office paid about $300,000 to its five largest vendors. It didn’t have a contract in place for the mailing contract worth $49,000. It also didn’t have a contract in place for its $40,000 contract for envelope printing. There was no competitive procurement process for either. The $171,000 deal for ballot printing also had no contract.

Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison is in charge of the clerk’s office. He agreed there should be contracts in place. The deals with those three vendors began before he came into the position, though he said he is responsible for them now. He has confidence in the vendors.

“Elections are complicated,” he said. “Trust is paramount.”

Dennison told us he is working on formalizing the relationships with contracts. And he is also working with the county’s new procurement manager to improve his office’s contracting.

This is exactly why the county created its internal auditor position — to uncover problems and potential problems.

One of the most deplorable financial scandals in the county arose because of lenient routines for handling money and former Sheriff Greg Brown. He embezzled $575,000 from the county and the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District. He went to jail in 2003.

Brown didn’t have to be clever. He was able to do it, in part, because he had control of the checkbook, the records and the budget.

In the wake of the scandal, the county established its internal auditor. It caught potential problems at the clerk’s office. The clerk’s office should not have these deals without contracts in place.