Auditors
found that the court lacked important oversight and accounting
safeguards to increase protection of taxpayer resources. The audit
identified incomplete bond records and insufficient review of the
actions of the court’s clerk, the one employee responsible for handling
financial transactions. Auditors also found that the court did not
monitor accrued costs for money owed to the court for fines and court
costs.
“Checks
and balances are particularly critical in a setting with a small number
of employees who handle the majority of court functions,” Auditor
Galloway said. “We made recommendations to court officials to help them
serve citizens more efficiently, and I am pleased that they have already
begun taking steps to improve operations.”
Auditors
determined that the prosecuting attorney did not sign every traffic
ticket processed by the court and did not always document the dismissal
of tickets. Additionally, the court failed to properly track revenues
received for minor traffic violations and associated court costs, and
Rich Hill officials did not perform calculations to ensure the city
complied with related state laws limiting retention of those revenues.
An audit of Rich Hill city operations is ongoing.
The
Rich Hill municipal court, located in Bates County, is a division of
the 27th Judicial Circuit. The court received an overall performance
rating of “good,” and the full report can be found online at the link below.
https://east.exch028.serverdata.net/owa/auth/logon.aspx?url=https://east.exch028.serverdata.net/owa/redir.aspx%3FSURL=UcpEV46-NyCzMLTw2CPSbVc8XOQlThZt5zX01oijGtU1qG2VnsrTCGgAdAB0AHAAOgAvAC8AYQBwAHAALgBhAHUAZABpAHQAbwByAC4AbQBvAC4AZwBvAHYALwBBAHUAZABpAHQAUgBlAHAAbwByAHQAcwAvAEMAaQB0AHoAUwB1AG0AbQBhAHIAeQAuAGEAcwBwAHgAPwBpAGQAPQA0ADgAOQA.%26URL=http%253a%252f%252fapp.auditor.mo.gov%252fAuditReports%252fCitzSummary.aspx%253fid%253d489&reason=0
