Top Twin Falls County officials said Thursday they are not letting Sheriff Wayne Tousley off the hook after learning his office amassed $20,000 in credit card debt, but acknowledged the problem might have been avoided with more oversight.

The debt, which Tousley said may have accumulated over 13 years without his knowledge, also escaped notice by other elected officials. Under the current system - enacted in 2003 after the Bob Fort embezzlement scandal - commissioners approve all claims submitted by county departments.

But on Thursday the commissioners conceded more oversight is needed, and said they plan to review the county's credit card policy. In Tousley's office, payments are based on individual cardholder statements listing each card's monthly activity but not previous balances, late fees or even the minimum payments. Those are listed on separate "company statements" that Tousley said he didn't review.

Commissioners said they never looked for unpaid balances when they reviewed Tousley's claims, and will ask for more detail in the future.

"We're going to make sure the statements have information of what was paid in the past," Commission Chairman Tom Mikesell said. "If I had noticed that in the past we might have been able to catch this and maybe him too."

Mikesell said Tousley is responsible for the problem, but he and other commissioners have said they do not believe he acted maliciously, and that they bear some of the blame.

"Obviously there's responsibility on us. The buck stops here," Mikesell said. "If the sheriff made a mistake and the information was available to us we should've caught it, but I don't know if the information was made available to us."

Tousley claims the debt is interest and late fees from 11 credit cards with individual limits. The matter surfaced Tuesday when a "credit card request" by Tousley was added to the commissioners' daily agenda, then removed at the sheriff's behest.

On Sept. 24 commissioners rejected Tousley's request that the county pay the debt, saying he provided insufficient support for the claim, which appeared to include fees incurred in past budget years that the county cannot legally pay.

Tousley then asked the county prosecutor to contact the card issuer, Bank of America, to investigate why the bank changed the way it sent bills to the sheriff's office. Tousley's secretary said the sheriff told her to ignore the bills.

Tousley said it was an honest mistake, and there was nothing unusual about trying to challenge the debt only after the county wouldn't pay.

"I have nothing to hide. I have not committed a crime," he said. "I don't sweep things under rugs."

Commissioner George Urie on Thursday noted that Tousley first asked them to pay, then went to Loebs, "'Cause we didn't pay it. It's pretty simple to me."

But when asked about the sequence of events, Tousley told the Times-News that he did "mention" the issue to Loebs before he submitted the request to the county clerk and the commission.

Loebs remembers it differently. He said he heard about the issue after the commissioners denied the request and Tousley brought it to his office.

"Out of 10,000 things I hear in a day I think I would've remembered something like this," Loebs said.

Under state law, county commissioners must balance the overall county budget each year, but Twin Falls County's elected officials are given broad latitude in managing the spending of their offices. Commissioners do cross-check credit card charges against receipts and ensure the expense is budgeted. For example, fuel bought with a credit card is paid with money from that line item.

Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, said he's never seen this kind of problem in 18 years of advising county officials on management issues.

"I've never heard of this type of issue happening before, where there is a significant holdover of credit card debt from sometime before," said Chadwick said. "It doesn't mean it hasn't happened. But I've never seen it happen."

The issue comes as Tousley seeks a fifth term. His opponents, including some of his former deputies, say the debt shows his poor management.

"This isn't rocket science," said Republican Tom Carter. "Anyone that studies bills should realize if you don't pay your balance there's interest involved ... You just have to shake your head."

Marty Jacobs, an independent candidate, questioned why the sheriff's office has separate credit cards at all.

"Sounds to me like we're trying to pass the buck and I think the buck has to stop right there with the sheriff ..." Jacobs said. "The county has no way of keeping track of what's going on."

Felix Garcia, another independent, could not be reached for comment.

Carter said sheriff's deputies would often joke about their credit cards being denied because they were at their limit.

"This isn't the first time cards have been declined," said Carter, a former deputy. "It never happened to me, but it did happen to other people. It was kind of a joke. Guys would laugh about it."

Tousley earlier this week said he first discovered the debt when his county card was rejected as at its limit in June. On Thursday he conceded that credit cards used by his deputies have been declined.

"In a year's time, maybe one or two might be declined," he said, declining to elaborate.

The Idaho Sheriff's Association offers broad training for new members that includes budgeting, but doesn't cover management of credit cards, said ISA Executive Director Vaughn Killeen.

Killeen, a retired Ada County Sheriff, said nearly all the counties use credit cards, but his association doesn't suggest procedures because each county is different.

"It's intrusive, each county has their own issues," he said.

Staff writer Andrea Jackson contributed to this story

Jared S. Hopkins may be reached at 208-735-3204 or jhopkins@magicvalley.com