Audit IDs Concerns In County Books
REPORT FOCUSES ON PROBLEMS IN OFFICES OF COLLECTOR, SHERIFF, PROSECUTOR
An audit of McDonald County government’s books turned up a number of areas of concern, according to Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway.
She issued an audit report on Tuesday.
The report describes concerns in the County Collector’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
County Collector Jennifer Weber, Sheriff Michael Hall, and Prosecuting Attorney Bill Dobbs could not be reached for comment.
In the Collector’s Office, miscalculations resulted in incorrect amounts being withheld from city tax collections, the report shows.
“The errors identified in the County Collector’s office are prime examples of why a system of oversight and review is necessary to ensure government runs efficiently and effectively,” Galloway said in a prepared statement. “If these system errors had been identified before the collections occurred, they could have been easily corrected, instead of creating additional work at both the county and city levels. This is true not just in the collector’s office, but across all levels of government, and I am hopeful officials in McDonald County will take immediate corrective action to address the concerns identified in this audit.”
In the report Galloway recommends the county improve procedures related to confiscated and seized property in the County Sheriff’s office. The audit found the list of seized property is not accurate or up to date. For example, the inventory list incorrectly showed $3,000 in seized cash that had been properly distributed for cases that had been resolved, along with some seized property that has been pending in the sheriff’s
inventory for up to 15 years without resolution. Due to the sensitive nature of some of the items that are routinely seized in association with a potential crime or criminal actions, it’s necessary that these items be properly tracked, secured and stored. Also noted is the office has no procedure to ensure inmate money are refunded upon release, and adequate documentation was not retained to support cash refunds of some inmate money.
The audit also includes recommendations to improve operations in the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. The report states the office has not adequately segregated accounting duties or performed documented supervisory reviews of accounting and banking records. The prosecutor has not established proper controls or procedures for receipting, recording, reconciling and depositing money. The check clerk does not generate a monthly list of unpaid bad checks and restitution, and is not proactive in identifying cases with unpaid receivables.
The county received an overall performance rating of fair. The auditor defines a finding of fair as indicating the need to improve operations in several areas. The report contains several findings, with one or more requiring management’s immediate attention, and/ or the entity has indicated recommendations will not be implemented. It may also indicate prior recommendations have not been implemented.