Bonds and Crimes Loss Control Program

I. Philosophy

To protect the Division of Administration (DOA) and all related ancillary units from financial and/or property losses resulting from any fraudulent act, misappropriation, or omission by employees in the performance of their duties.

II. Assignment of Responsibility

Administrative and fiscal responsibility shall lie within the Office of the Commissioner.  The specific duties assigned in areas covered under the Bonds and Crimes Loss Control Program are:

Property Control: Agency/Section Property Control Manager with approval from Section Head or designee and oversight from Louisiana Property Assistance Agency.

Purchasing - Purchase Orders, Contracts and Leases: Agency/Section Procurement Agent with approval from Section Head or designee and oversight from Office of State Procurement and Office of Facility Planning.

Negotiable Items: Agency/Section with approval from Section Head or designee and oversight from DOA Office of Finance and Support Services (DOA-OFSS) Cash Disbursements Unit.

Petty Cash and Imprest Accounts: Agency/Section Petty Cash Custodian with oversight from DOA-OFSS Cash Disbursements Unit.

Safes: Agency/Section with approval from Section Head or designee.

Timekeeping: Agency/Section timekeeper with approval from Section Head or designee oversight from DOA Office of Human Resources.

Security: Agency/Section safety coordinator along with the Office of State Buildings, Department of Public Safety, and Office of Technology Services.

The DOA’s Internal Audit Office provides assurances that all policies and procedures relative to the above areas are proper in maintaining segregation of duties, compliance and operational efficiency.

The state’s LaGov system, as well as other integral system components, contain defined security safeguards and protocols which prevent access or certain actions by unauthorized personnel.  Security access is granted to employees based upon specific job duties and specifications.  These are authorized by the security administrator within DOA-OFSS and granted through the Office of Technology Services (OTS) security team.  The LaGov Security Administration Guide provides extensive guidance on these procedures.

III. Property Control

 In accordance with Louisiana Administrative code (LAC) Title 34 Part VII Chapter 3, each agency is responsible for developing inventory procedures.  LAC Part VII; Chapter 3. §305(D) details these procedures.  Accordingly each agency may develop additional internal procedures to assure accountability and compliance with Louisiana Property Assistance Agency (LPAA).

Each agency/section head designates a property manager.  The head of the agency notifies the commissioner, through the LPAA director or his designee by completing the Designation of Property Manager form.    

The property manager is accountable for all moveable property within the agency/section.  Property assigned to any employee is the responsibility of that employee.  The property manager must conduct an annual inventory and certify to LPAA.                                          

All property will be maintained in the data base system, Asset Management Platform (AMP Recoup).  Each property manager is responsible for requesting and completing the training to assure that they are aware of all state property control procedures. 

At any time, any property that is lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged must be reported immediately to the Commissioner or his designee through LPAA.  The property manager should investigate and prepare a written report.  Any finding will be reported and losses will be reported to the Office of Risk Management by completing the appropriate form located on the LA ORM Claims website.¹² 

IV. Purchasing - Purchase Orders, Contracts, and Leases

Each agency/section assigns at least one staff member to serve as the purchasing agent.  The agency/section purchasing agent is responsible for reviewing purchasing requests.  The purchasing agent has the option of utilizing various procurement methods such as established statewide contracts, sole source and proprietary purchases, competitive bids, and requests for proposal, to acquire desired equipment, goods, supplies and operating services for their agency.  The Office of State Procurement (OSP) has extensive resources located on it’s website at https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/osp/, including the Procurement Handbook, detailing the process for utilizing these and other procurement methods. Contracts/leases are developed according to the policies, procedures, and the rules and regulations of the OSP Professional Contracts section.  The Real Estate Leasing section within the DOA Office of Facility Planning provides building leases for state agencies, their personnel, operations, equipment or activities.  Contracts/leases are reviewed for compliance to assure agreements are sound and that all required documentation is complete and all deliverables have been met.  All contracts/leases are evaluated to ensure that the goals of the agreement are achieved and that the contractor has completed the terms in a satisfactory manner. 

Training resources for employees are located online in LEO as well as on the OSP website.  In addition, requests for in-person training can be requested by contacting OSP at the email address DOA-OSPTraining@la.gov.   

In addition to the procurement methods listed above, the agency has the option, when applicable, to have employees utilize the “LaCarte” Purchasing Card (P-Card), Travel Card (T-Card), Controlled Bill Account (CBA), and the Inventory Card (I-Card) with proper prior approvals.  The usage of these cards are governed by the Statewide Card Policy and the DOA’s Card Policy.  Within both policies are guidelines addressing the use and/or misuse of any state issued credit cards.  The use of these cards does not negate any current purchasing policies, rules and regulations, mandates, Louisiana Statutes, Executive Orders, internal agency policies and procedures and/or PPM49 as applicable. 

Building security is provided by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) or other law enforcement agencies or other security personnel in accordance with the guidelines established by DOA Office of State Buildings (OSB) and the Tenant Committee.  For those state buildings for which DOA-OSB provides services, a listing of the buildings, hours, and the security availability can be found in the OSB Facility Manual.

Each of the buildings has either a DPS or Court Security Officer on duty during the buildings’ open hours.  After hours security for some of the buildings is provided by other law enforcement agencies.  Since building security is based on tenants requests of particular types of access, specific details regarding building security would have to be provided by DPS, Court Security, or other enforcement agencies or security personnel.

Each agency/section head designates a badge coordinator(s) by completing the Agency Badging Coordinator Form.  Badge coordinator will be responsible for request new badges replacement badges, and badge access changes.  With the proper approval from the agency/section approver, access badges are issued to employees, contractors, students, and interns through the OSB Badging Office.  The Access Badge Enrollment Form is located on the DOA-OSB website https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/osb/badging-office.  The access badge is used to gain entry to the garage, building, and/or office.

For detailed information regarding the badging process, the Access Badge Policy, as well as forms for replacement badges and status changes, is available on the OSB website https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/osb/badging-office.

Keys to offices are supplied by OSB and issued by the agency/section building coordinator to the employee, contractor, student, or intern needing access.  Requests for duplicates keys are submitted to Work Control at DOA-WorkControlGroup@la.gov. For guidance regarding issuance of keys, refer to the Key Issuance Policy located on DOA-OSB’s webpage.

For state agencies housed in privately owned buildings, the tenant agency should have a copy of or be able to access the building’s security and key control policies upon request.  In addition, the state agencies must have their own internal security policy regarding visitor and employee access.

The Office of Technology Services’ Information Security Team has established a comprehensive information security program.  The Information Security Policy is located on the OTS website at https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/ots/about-us/infosec.  Pursuant to the provisions of Act 712 of the 2014 Regular Legislative Session, all entities under the authority of the OTS shall comply with this policy.