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Audit Objective

Determine if the Justice Court properly accounted for court funds.

Key Findings

• The Justice was unaware that in August 2016, the Court clerk deposited $6,525 belonging to a neighboring village’s justice court for which she also worked. This error was corrected in October 2016 when she transferred the money between two accounts.
• The Justice was unaware that the Court clerk filed 11 of 15 monthly reports of money collected (73 percent) to the JCF after the due date. On average, reports were 14 days late.
• Prior to 2017, the code enforcement department did not maintain a record of tickets issued or unissued. In addition, 41 tickets in the 2017 sequence with estimated fines and fees totaling approximately $5,900 were not recorded as issued or paid.

Key Recommendations

• Oversee the Court clerk, including reviewing bank reconciliations (which are currently not being prepared) with documentation or reviewing receipts and reports.
• Ensure JCF reports are filed timely and accurately and ensure the control and reconciliation of issued and unissued tickets.

Village officials disagreed with certain aspects of our findings, but indicated they have initiated corrective action. Appendix B includes our comments on issues raised in one of the Village’s response letters.