YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2006-83
December 2006

IMPORTANT:  The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Atchison, that do not have a county auditor.  In addition to a financial audit of various county operating funds, the State Auditor's statutory audit covers additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.

The county provides dispatching services to all political subdivisions in the county, but has entered into written contracts with only one of those entities.  The county does not charge these various entities for most dispatching services, but has not performed a cost analysis of providing these services. 

In April 1999, Atchison County voters approved a ½ cent sales tax for implementing and operating an enhanced 911 system.  The 911 fund generates approximately $250,000 per year, primarily through this sales tax.  In the future, if costs associated with providing dispatching services exceed available revenues, the county may need to consider charging a fee for dispatching.  At a minimum, the county should enter into contracts with all entities for dispatching services and perform a cost analysis of providing these services.

An independent review of transactions, deposits, and bank reconciliations is not performed in the Associate Circuit Division.  While the Associate Circuit Judge does review month end reports, a review of bank reconciliations and a comparison of receipts to deposits are not performed.  The court implemented procedures during our audit to have the court clerks review each others work, including daily deposits and bank reconciliations.

Receipt slips are not always issued immediately upon receipt of monies and the court has not implemented procedures to ensure these monies are later posted to the computer system.  As a result, monies are not deposited intact on a timely basis.  Additionally, checks and money orders are not restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt and procedures have not been established to follow-up on old outstanding checks.

In the Sheriff's Office, monies are not deposited on a timely basis, bank reconciliations are not performed timely and controls over seized property are not sufficient.

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