Bates County
Report No. 2017-049
To view the audit report, click the following link: https://app.auditor.mo.gov/AuditReports/AudRpt2.aspx?id=61
If the above link does not take you to the Audit Report, then Copy and Paste the link directly into your browser address bar.
Nicole Galloway, CPA Missouri State Auditor
Findings in the audit of Bates County
Cost of living adjustments provided to elected officials annually since 2007 do not comply with state law. The county does not compensate law enforcement personnel in accordance with county policy. The county does not have documentation to support allocating the entire cost of the Deputy County Clerk's salary to the Special Road and Bridge Fund.
Disbursements totaling $3,581 made from the Administrative Handling Cost Fund (AHCF) were not in compliance with uses allowed by state law and/or seemed unreasonable. Some purchases were personal expenses and not essential to the administration or operation of the Prosecuting Attorney's office. The Prosecuting Attorney maintains the AHCF bank account outside the county treasury. In addition, the Prosecuting Attorney has not prepared a budget for this fund, and disbursements of this fund are not made through the county's normal disbursement process.
The Prosecuting Attorney's office does not compare monthly lists of liabilities for the restitution account to the reconciled bank balance. The Prosecuting Attorney has not established procedures to routinely follow up on outstanding checks and voided restitution checks that were not reissued. The Prosecuting Attorney's office does not generate or prepare monthly lists of unpaid bad checks or a report of unpaid court-ordered restitution, including court-ordered restitution for bad checks.
The Sheriff has not adequately segregated accounting duties and does not perform a supervisory review of accounting and bank records. Procedures for depositing inmate and commissary monies intact and timely are not sufficient. Money is received almost daily, but money held in the lobby kiosk is usually deposited weekly while money held in the booking kiosk is deposited monthly. The Sheriff's clerk does not prepare adequate bank reconciliations for the inmate/commissary account and a monthly list of liabilities is not prepared to reconcile to the inmate/commissary account balance. The Inmate Coordinator does not perform a periodic physical inventory of commissary items on hand or reconcile to the system records of commissary inventory.
Records to account for county property are not adequate. The county has not established adequate procedures and records to ensure capital assets are insured against loss from theft or destruction. In addition, the county does not have adequate procedures in place to identify capital asset purchases and dispositions throughout the year and some property items are not tagged.
The County Clerk and the Public Administrator have not established adequate password controls to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to computers and data. The County Clerk's office does not store data backups at an offsite location and does not test backup data.
Payroll Related Matters
Administrative Handling Cost Fund
Prosecuting Attorney's Controls and Procedures
Sheriff's Controls and Procedures
Capital Assets
Electronic Data Security
Because counties are managed by several separately-elected individuals, an audit finding made with respect to one office does not necessarily apply to the operations in another office. The overall rating assigned to the county is intended to reflect the performance of the county as a whole. It does not indicate the performance of any one elected official or county office.
*The rating(s) cover only audited areas and do not reflect an opinion on the overall operation of the entity. Within that context, the rating scale indicates the following:
Excellent: The audit results indicate this entity is very well managed. The report contains no findings. In addition, if applicable, prior recommendations have been implemented.
Good: The audit results indicate this entity is well managed. The report contains few findings, and the entity has indicated most or all recommendations have already been, or will be, implemented. In addition, if applicable, many of the prior recommendations have been implemented.
Fair: The audit results indicate this entity needs to improve operations in several areas. The report contains several findings, or one or more findings that require management's immediate attention, and/or the entity has indicated several recommendations will not be implemented. In addition, if applicable, several prior recommendations have not been implemented.
Poor: The audit results indicate this entity needs to significantly improve operations. The report contains numerous findings that require management's immediate attention, and/or the entity has indicated most recommendations will not be implemented. In addition, if applicable, most prior recommendations have not been implemented.
All reports are available on our Web site: auditor.mo.gov
