Town of Greene – Justice Court Operations (2021M-95)

Issued Date
December 10, 2021

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Town of Greene (Town) Justice Court (Court) properly accounted for, deposited, disbursed and reported fines and fees.

Key Findings

The Town Justices (Justices) properly accounted for, reported and disbursed the fines and fees that we reviewed. However:

  • The Justices did not deposit all collections in a timely manner.
  • The Justices did not perform monthly accountabilities, and Justice Martin was unaware that the cash balance in her account exceeded known liabilities by $5,869 as of September 30, 2021.
  • Although the Board’s 2019 audit of the Court records and reports was incomplete, we found that its 2020 audit had improved.

Key Recommendations

  • Deposit all Court collections within three days of the day they were received as required.
  • Prepare monthly accountabilities, promptly investigate any differences and determine the source of unidentified cash balances.
  • Annually audit the Court’s records in a sufficiently detailed and properly documented manner.

Town officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have indicated they plan to initiate corrective action.