YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2000-25
April 19, 2000

During our audit of the Thirty-First Judicial Circuit, City of Battlefield, Missouri, Municipal Division, we identified the following problems.

Cash receipts for fines, court costs, and bonds totaling at least $11,524, were received and not deposited during the period July 1, 1995 through August 6, 1999. Some receipts were not properly recorded, court monies were not remitted to the city and state, and "adjustments" were periodically made so records would reconcile to bank statements, all of which helped to conceal the misappropriation of funds.

The misappropriations could have been prevented or detected on a more timely basis if adequate oversight and review had been performed and internal controls, as noted in the prior audit report had been established.

Earl Whitehead serves as the Municipal Judge of the City of Battlefield. Joy Sparkman was appointed Court Clerk in March 1995 and resigned in August 1999. She was responsible for receipting, recording, and depositing monies, preparing disbursements, and reconciling bank statements for the court account.

Prenumbered receipt slips are issued for monies received, and court monies are periodically deposited into a municipal court bank account. Receipt slips showing the mode of payment as cash were issued, but the cash was not deposited. Some receipts were not recorded on the ledger maintained by the former Court Clerk of receipts and checks and "adjustments" were periodically made so the balance would reconcile with the bank statement and help conceal the cash shortage. In addition, cases were omitted from the monthly report and deposit information was incorrectly reported on the monthly report to help conceal the shortage.

Information gathered during our review has been turned over to the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney and the Greene County Sheriff's Department.

The duties of receiving, recording, and depositing monies collected by the municipal division are not adequately segregated. The Court Clerk performs all of these duties. Neither the judge nor other personnel independent of the cash custody and record-keeping functions provide any supervision or review of the work performed by the Court Clerk.

We noted the following concerns during our review of the court's cash receipt procedures:

Prenumbered receipt slips are not issued for all monies received.

A receipt book containing the duplicate or carbon copy of 200 receipt slips written between August 1998 and May 1999, could not be located by the court. In addition, several case files could not be located.

Receipt slips do not always indicate the method of payment (cash, checks, or money order). In addition, receipt slips are not reconciled to bank deposits.

Receipts are not always deposited timely.

Monthly listings of open items were not always prepared by the former court clerk. While lists were prepared for some months, the lists were not complete and accurate. As a result, the municipal division cannot ensure the amounts held for open bonds and the amounts turned over to the city and the state each month are proper.

Neither the police department nor the municipal division maintains adequate records to account for the numerical sequence and ultimate disposition of all traffic tickets issued.

The municipal division allows defendants to make partial payments on fines and court costs. Cases with balances due are not maintained on a balance due docket or other summary listing which can be reviewed by the Municipal Judge on a periodic basis.

The Court Clerk is responsible for monthly disbursements of Crime Victims Compensation and Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission fees to the state; however, there were several instances when the state's portion of Crime Victims Compensation and Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission fees were not remitted on a timely basis.

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