Village of Old Westbury – Justice Court (2017M-64)

Issued Date
July 07, 2017

Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the Court’s financial operations for the period June 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

Background

The Village of Old Westbury is located in the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead in Nassau County. The Village is governed by an elected five-member Board of Trustees and has approximately 4,670 residents. The Village has an elected Village Justice and two appointed Acting Justices who preside over Court operations.

Key Findings

  • The Justices did not perform bank reconciliations or accountability analyses on a monthly basis during the audit period.
  • Two of the three Judges had cash overages totaling $1,743 that could not be explained.
  • All bail moneys were not deposited into the bank accounts of each Justice or into a joint bail account but instead were deposited into one Justice’s account.

Key Recommendations

  • Assign the responsibility of performing monthly bank reconciliations and accountability analyses and ensure they are prepared and documented.
  • Identify the source of the overages in the Justices’ bank accounts and distribute the funds as appropriate.
  • Establish a joint bank account for bail deposits or deposit bail funds into each responsible Justice’s account