Report No. 2010-69
June 2010
Complete Audit Report
Findings in the audit of the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit, City of St. Louis
Circuit Court Receipts
The independent review by the Circuit Clerk's Bookkeeping section is inadequate to ensure manual receipt slips are properly posted to the Justice Information System (JIS) and subsequently deposited. Manual receipt slips are not issued in numerical sequence which causes difficulties in accounting for all receipt slips. In addition, some pages of the receipt ledger are not submitted to the Bookkeeping section for review and verification, the method of payment and/or receipt amount is not recorded on the receipt ledger for some receipt slips, and original copies of some voided manual receipt slips are not maintained. There does not appear to be any statutory authority for the daily record fee assessed and collected on each civil case. The Circuit Clerk's office has not assessed witness fees for cases where the defendant is found guilty.
Justice Information System Account
The JIS liabilities list included $265,048 in unidentified amounts. In addition, the Circuit Clerk has not adequately reviewed the status of old cases on the liabilities list.
Old Circuit Fee Accounts
The Circuit Clerk needs to improve procedures related to old circuit fee bank accounts and investments. The Circuit Clerk's old fee accounts have had minimal activity since June 2006. Although the Circuit Clerk's office has reduced the reconciled balances by approximately $5 million since June 2002, the Circuit Clerk still has approximately $7.6 million in old bank accounts and investments. Our prior audits revealed numerous differences between the old computer system and manual case files. The Circuit Clerk needs to improve procedures related to bank reconciliations for the old bank accounts. Bank reconciliation differences and adjustments have not been investigated and corrected on a timely basis to ensure bank activity and accounting records are in agreement.
Court Ordered Bank Accounts
There are several old court ordered bank accounts on which no action has been taken. The December 31, 2009, court ordered bank account list includes 16 cases totaling $1,551,786. Eight of the cases originated prior to 1999, with some cases dating as far back as 1977.
Circuit Clerk's Disbursements
The Circuit Clerk does not have a formal procurement policy. We identified disbursements from the Circuit Clerk's Special Interest Fund made without soliciting competitive bids/proposals or documenting sole source providers, including accounting services and a docket prioritization system.
Pre-Trial Release
The Pre-Trial Release (PTR) office needs to improve policies and procedures related to the collection of bonds. Some bond amounts and types (i.e., cash, property, or surety) are not properly authorized or authorization for the bond accepted is not adequately documented. Procedures and controls for monies collected during non-business hours need improvement. There is no independent review to ensure receipts are properly transmitted to the Circuit Clerk's office, and the PTR office does not account for the numerical sequence of receipt slips issued. In addition, receipt slips are not issued in numerical sequence, which causes difficulties in accounting for all receipt slips.
Probate Division
Improvement is needed in Probate Division policies and procedures related to manual receipt slips issued and unidentified monies held. There is no independent review to ensure manual receipt slips are properly entered into the JIS and subsequently deposited. In addition, original copies of some voided manual receipt slips were not maintained. While bank reconciliations are prepared and reconciled to lists of liabilities, the JIS account has an unidentified balance of $8,124.
Juvenile Division
Controls over receipts initially collected in field offices need improvement. The Juvenile Division is unable to ensure all money orders received by the field offices are transmitted to the Restitution Office. Unnumbered payment forms are issued when money orders are received by field offices and a receipt log is not maintained. Money orders are not restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt.
Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov
