State audit: Records missing from McDonald County prosecuting attorney's office

Receipt records, bank statements, deposit slips, check stubs, check registers, and bad check complaint forms for the two-year period ending Dec. 31, 2007, vanished before state auditors had a chance to look at them, according to an audit released today.

"Further, copies of bad checks received from victims were not always retained. Record retention is necessary to ensure the validity of transactions and provide an audit trail," the audit said.

Though the office manager who was in charge during that time is no longer employed by the prosecuting attorney, according to the report, significant problems remain.

And those weren't the only significant problems cited by state auditors in the report. The cover letter reads:

The Emergency 911 Board did not follow the advice of legal counsel and entered into loans totaling $1.5 million with a local bank to finance construction of the Emergency 911 facility and to purchase equipment. In addition, the Board did not document its evaluation of the financing arrangements, funds available, and interest costs associated with the loans. A number of transactions and decisions involving board members appear to be conflicts of interest and the board does not have a formal code of conduct policy. Improvement is needed over disbursement and payroll policies and procedures. The Board did not always ensure compliance with the Sunshine Law.

Improvement is needed over various accounting controls and procedures in the Prosecuting Attorney's office. As a result of the significant control weaknesses identified, there is no assurance all receipts were deposited and accounted for properly. Accounting duties are not adequately segregated, there was no independent approval to support adjustments posted to the accounting system, and adequate documentation of such adjustments was not retained. Receipt slips were not issued for some monies received, and some receipts were not recorded in the electronic accounting system when received. In addition, monies received are not always deposited intact or in a timely manner. The Prosecuting Attorney's office did not always document the individual receipts that comprised deposits. Bank reconciliations were not prepared by the former office manager for three bank accounts maintained during the period January 2007 to September 2008, liabilities related to the Prosecuting Attorney's four bank accounts are not identified at month end, and consequently liabilities are not reconciled with cash balances. Procedures have not been established to ensure charges are filed with the court for unresolved bad check complaints on a timely basis, and bad check fees were not always disbursed to the County Treasurer in a timely manner. Further, various accounting records could not be located.

The former Sheriff used accountable fees of $12,831 to pay himself for mileage, and documentation of actual miles driven to serve papers was not maintained. Several concerns were identified related to a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) bank account maintained by a Sheriff's deputy. There is no statutory authority allowing the Sheriff or his deputies to hold this account outside the county treasury, receipt slips or other records of donations received are not maintained, monthly bank reconciliations are not prepared, the check book register balance is not accurate, and adequate supporting documentation for some disbursements was not retained. Accounting duties in the Sheriff's office are not adequately segregated, and controls and procedures over seized property need improvement.

The county did not utilize a competitive procurement process when making purchases or obtaining professional services. The county purchased real estate without obtaining an independent appraisal of the property, estimating the costs to demolish and dispose of the house on the property, or requiring an inspection of the property to be performed as part of the real estate contract. Controls and procedures over fuel usage need improvement, and written agreements were not always entered into or signed by all parties.

The County Clerk and County Treasurer do not adequately reconcile their accounting records and discrepancies were noted in actual amounts presented in the county's budget documents. In addition, improvement is needed in the procedures over transfers of monies between county funds.

Timesheets and records of compensatory, vacation, and sick leave for Sheriff's office employees are not filed with the County Clerk until the end of the calendar year, and the Sheriff's office personnel could not demonstrate how compensatory time and leave earned and taken was calculated or how the activity reported on timesheets related to the balances reported. An adequate review of employee timesheets and leave records was not always performed by the County Clerk's office or by the employees' supervisory official, and several discrepancies were noted between the amount of leave taken as recorded on timesheets and the related leave records. In addition, timesheets are not always signed by the employee and supervisor, and the county allows employees to accrue overtime and leave in violation of its own policy.

Improvement is needed in the county's procedures and documentation related to both closed and regular meeting minutes. In addition, county business was sometimes conducted without a quorum of the Commissioners.

Access to assessment data in the property tax system is not adequately restricted, and the County Clerk and County Commission are not performing sufficient reviews of property tax system information and County Collector's monthly and annual reports.

The County Collector's annual settlements were not accurate or complete, and accounting duties are not adequately segregated.

Other findings in the audit report relate to Capital Asset Records and Procedures, Circuit Clerk Controls, Public Administrator Controls and Procedures, and Recorder of Deeds Controls and Procedures.