YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

August 25, 2003

Report No. 2003-87

The following problems were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office of the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Supreme Court expenditures from appropriated funds totaled approximately $1.2 million, $1.2 million, and $1.1 million (excluding payroll) during the years ended June 30, 2002, 2001, and 2000, respectively.  We noted some payments were processed without a properly approved purchase order and other purchases did not always include an indication of approval by the fiscal officer.

Our tests of payments to employees for travel reimbursements noted most expense reports reviewed were not approved by the employees' immediate supervisor, and expense reimbursement requests are not always submitted on a timely basis.  Also, prior approval of out-of-state travel is not always documented.

Our review of agency-provided food expenditures noted the Supreme Court has not established price limits/guidelines regarding per person meal costs for meetings.  In addition, expenditure documentation for some meals did not include an accurate listing of who the meals were provided for or documentation of the business purpose for providing the meals.

Concerns were noted with a Supreme Court building historical preservation project, including lack of documentation of the selection process for interior design consulting services and failure to enter into a written contract for such services. 

The Board of Law Examiners (BLE) is composed of six members, who are appointed to six-year terms by the Supreme Court.  Our audit noted numerous expenditure invoices executed on the BLE Fund did not contain an indication of approval by the BLE director or assistant director, and expenditures were not always supported by adequate documentation.  In addition, numerous expenditures for business-related meals were noted which appeared excessive, including a board member being reimbursed $597 for a meal for herself and two other BLE representatives while attending a workshop in Chicago.  Also, some expenditures did not appear to be prudent or necessary uses of these funds.

There is no supervisory review of payroll duties to provide necessary internal controls over the payroll function.  The fiscal officer enters all payroll information, including salary amounts and employee information, into the state's payroll system with no supervisory approval or review.

Vehicle logs did not always include adequate documentation.  Instances were noted in which the purpose, destination, and/or mileage was not recorded on the vehicle log.

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