~~ ~ ~~2~09/, COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REQUEST PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND TEN (10) COPIES OF THIS REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT MADE BY: Theresa "Tess" Mabry MEETING DATE: 4/27/09 OFFICE: Auditor TIME PREFERRED: After Presentation of Insurance Expense SUBJECT: Consider, Discuss and Take Appropriate Action on approval of audit reports for Kerr County Justices of the Peace Precincts 1 through 4. EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: (PLEASE STATE REASON) NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: Tess Mabry ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: 5 minutes IF PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE: Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in accordance with Title 5, Chapter 551 and 552, Government Code, is as follows: Meeting scheduled for Mondays: 5:00 PM previous Tuesday THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY: THIS RQUEST RECEIVED ON: @ .M. All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court Meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards your request being addressed at the earliest opportunity. See Agenda Request Rules Adopted by Commissioners' Court. M E M 0 Friday, February 27, 2009 To: Paula J. Hargis, Kerr County Auditor From: Theressa "Tess" Mabry, Kerr County Chief Assistant Auditor Subject: Audit of Kerr County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Audit Period: 10/1107-9/30/08 Background: The Justice of the Peace is the legal jurisdiction closest to the average citizen. Section 19 of Article 5 of the Texas Constitution provides that Justice of the Peace courts have original jurisdiction in criminal matters of misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law. The Justice of the Peace performs functions of a magistrate and conducts inquests. He or she may issue warrants for search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings, administer oaths, perform marriages and serve as a coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. The justice court also functions as a small claims court in civil matters which exclusive jurisdiction is not in district or county court and the amount of the controversy does not exceed $10,000. The precinct disposed approximately 1,779 cases during the audit period. The department has one Justice of the Peace, one permanent, full-time employee and three occasional, part-time clerks, and an annual budget of $102,722. Audit Scope: The audit reviewed procedures and internal controls for the collections of fees and fines in cases under the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Court of Kerr County. Audit Findings: The office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, runs very efficiently with minimal deficiencies. Improvements have been made in the effort to collect past due amounts. The previous recommendation to make deposits daily has been implemented within the last three months and there appears to be more documentation on the outside of the shuck as to the disposition of the cases and correct fees. The office was organized, and upon inspection, the ticket filing system was found in good order with no visible clerical errors. There were only a few issues, enumerated following: 1. There is no separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits. 2. Cash receipts are not secure. 3. No current inventory was available. 4. There were some discrepancies between the actual disposition of the case and the disposition listed in the Odyssey Case Listing. Recommendations: Issue 1. No separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits. • While it is desirable to have separation of these duties, with a staff of the size of J.P. 1's ,this separation is not practical. However, it would be desirable for the Justice of the Peace to review the till report and initial on a weekly basis. The Justice of the Peace has agreed to do so. Issue 2. The Cash Receipts are not secure. • The cash receipts are kept in an insecure fashion. There is easy access so care should be taken to remove the cash from access to the front desk and be in a locked box and locked drawer further to the back of the office. The department has agreed to purchase a cash lock box and store it in a more secure place. Issue 3. There was no inventory available. Currently, there is no system to list current inventory. Thus, the department needs to make a list of the physical inventory including all fixed items such as bookshelves, chairs, etc. so that the Auditor's Office may compile and tag the complete list of County-owned property to include this office. The office agreed to compile an inventory in the future. Issue 4. There were discrepancies between dispositions on the shuck and in Odyssey System • 7% of the cases sampled showed discrepancies between the case disposition listed on the shuck and evidenced by the paperwork in the case file (Case 08- 0504-jp1 & 08-0674-jp1) and that listed in the Odyssey listing. Although this represents a fraction of the total cases, caution should be exercised when noting the disposition of cases. The client responded by explaining that case 08-0504 was from a time before she knew whereto change the disposition in the computer. For case 08-0674, it was indicated that the warrants were rescinded, and therefore, the status in the computer was actually correct and no action needs to be taken on the part of the clerk. M E M 0 Monday, March 23, 2009 To: Paula J. Hargis, Kerr County Auditor From: Theressa "Tess" Mabry, Kerr County First Assistant Auditor Subject: Audit of Kerr County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 Audit Period: 10/1/07-9/30/08 Background: The Justice of the Peace is the legal jurisdiction closest to the average citizen. Section 19 of Article 5 of the Texas Constitution provides that Justice of the Peace courts have original jurisdiction in criminal matters of misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law. The Justice of the Peace performs functions of a magistrate and conducts inquests. He or she may issue warrants for search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings, administer oaths, perform marriages and serve as a coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. The justice court also functions as a small claims court in civil matters which exclusive jurisdiction is not in district or county court and the amount of the controversy does not exceed $10,000. The precinct disposed approximately 845 cases during the audit period. The department has one Justice of the Peace and one permanent, full-time employee with an annual budget of $104,998. Audit Scope: The audit reviewed procedures and internal controls for the collections of fees and fines in cases under the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 Court of Kerr County. Audit Findings: The office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2, runs very efficiently with minimal deficiencies. Improvements have been made in the effort to collect past due amounts. The office was organized, and upon inspection, the ticket filing system was found in good order with special care given to the assessment of time payment fees on outstanding citations. The office has implemented previous recommendations and now makes deposits to the Treasurer on a daily basis. There was only a single issue, enumerated following; 1. There was a clerical error on one of the sampled cases. Recommendations: Issue 1. Clerical Error • 3% of the cases sampled (1 out of 30) showed a discrepancy between the fine/court costs listed on the shuck and the amounts indicated by the paperwork in the case file (Case 07-21431). This represents only a minor oversight with regard to, and therefore, only caution is indicated with regard to accuracy. M E M 0 Tuesday, February 11, 2009 To: Paula J. Hargis, Kerr County Auditor From: Theressa "Tess" Mabry, Kerr County Chief Assistant Auditor Subject: Audit of Kerr County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 Audit Period: 1011/07-9/30/08 Background: The Justice of the Peace is the legal jurisdiction closest to the average citizen, Section 19 of Article 5 of the Texas Constitution provides that Justice of the Peace courts have original jurisdiction in criminal matters of misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law. The Justice of the Peace performs functions of a magistrate and conducts inquests. He or she may issue warrants for search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings, administer oaths, perform marriages and serve as a coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. The justice court also functions as a small claims court in civil matters which exclusive jurisdiction is not in district or county court and the amount of the controversy does not exceed $10,000. The precinct disposed approximately 2,229 cases during the audit period. The department has two employees and an annual budget of $104,988. Audit Scope: The audit reviewed procedures and internal controls for the collections of fees and fines in cases under the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 Court of Kerr County. Audit Findings: The office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, runs very efficiently with minimal deficiencies. Improvements have been made in the effort to collect past due amounts and the recommendations from the previous audit were implemented with great success, The office was organized, and upon inspection, the ticket filing system was found in good order with no visible clerical errors. There were only a few issues, enumerated following: 1. There is no separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits 2. The fee and fines sign posted did not reflect updated amounts. 3. The security gate in the front office was kept unlocked. Recommendations: Issue 1. No separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits. • While it is desirable to have separation of these duties, with a staff of the size of J.P. 3's ,this separation is not practical. However, it would be desirable for the Justice of the Peace to initial each receipt as the collection comes in and then initial the till report at the end of each day to reflect the matching of collections received with the collections entered into the system whenever the Judge is available to do so. Issue 2. Fees and Fines sign incorrect. • The posted fees sign at the front counter was incorrect. The clerk has taken measures to fix the sign and has re-posted it with the correct amounts. Issue 3. Security gate left unlatched. • The gate at the front of the office should be locked to restrict access to documents, computers and cash. There has been a work order pending in the Maintenance Department fix the latch on the gate. M E M 0 Tuesday, March 03, 2009 To: Paula J. Hargis, Kerr County Auditor From: Theressa "Tess" Mabry, Kerr County Chief Assistant Auditor Subject: Audit of Kerr County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 Audit Period: 10!1107-9130/08 Background: The Justice of the Peace is the legal jurisdiction closest to the average citizen. Section 19 of Article 5 of the Texas Constitution provides that Justice of the Peace courts have original jurisdiction in criminal matters of misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law. The Justice of the Peace performs functions of a magistrate and conducts inquests. He or she may issue warrants for search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings, administer oaths, perform marriages and serve as a coroner in counties where there is no provision for a medical examiner. The justice court also functions as a small claims court in civil matters which exclusive jurisdiction is not in district or county court and the amount of the controversy does not exceed $10,000. The precinct disposed approximately 1,252 cases during the audit period. The department has one Justice of the Peace, one permanent, full-time employee and occasional, part-time clerks, and an annual budget of $118,843. Audit Scope: The audit reviewed procedures and internal controls for the collections of fees and fines in cases under the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 Court of Kerr County. Audit Findings: The office of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, runs very efficiently with minimal deficiencies. Improvements have been made in the effort to collect past due amounts. The office was organized, and upon inspection, the ticket filing system was found in good order. There were only a few issues, enumerated following: 1. There is no separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits. 2. No cash balance is kept on the manual checking account ledger. 3. A pamphlet explaining duties of the Justices of the Peace was incorrect. 4. There was a clerical error on one of the sampled cases. Recommendations: Issue 1. No separation of duties between cash collection, reporting and deposits. • While it is desirable to have separation of these duties, with a staff of the size of J.P. 4's ,this separation is not practical. However, it would be desirable for the Justice of the Peace to review the till report and initial on a weekly basis. Issue 2. The Cash Balance • There was no balance indicated in the checkbook after each check, so reconciliation of the bank statement proves to be difficult when no beginning and subsequent balances are indicated. The office should reconcile the bank statement with the check book for accuracy, on a monthly basis. Issue 3. Incorrect Pamphlet The pamphlet enumerating the duties of the Office of the Justice of the Peace was incorrect. The Justice is now responsible for small claims not to exceed $10,000. The pamphlet indicated the previous maximum amount of $5,000. The client indicated the party responsible for the content of the pamphlet and she will be notified of the change. The pamphlet should be removed pending correction. Issue 4. Clerical Error • 3% of the cases sampled (1 out of 30) showed a discrepancy between a date listed on the shuck and a date indicated by the paperwork in the case file (Case 0853979), This represents only a minor transposition of 2 numbers, and therefore, only caution is indicated with regard to accuracy. addendum To: J.P. audit reports Monday, April 20, 2009 ,~~,~~~'s~rt r~~r ~s, ~~~~~ ta,-~ .•,~ a M - ~.~ # ., y x"., ,~. ; .`r [ ~=w ~` _ ~` i ;~: # M~~~ 3 {: ~~~~ Subject: subsequent finding • It was further found after the close of audit fieldwork that the percentage of past fees and fine amounts remitted to the state for Texas Parks and Wildlife citations were incorrect. The correct remittance percentage is 85%, but some cases were incorrectly remitted at 80%. The error was traced to the Odyssey system and was corrected by our Information Technology Department.. • All pertinent cases were reviewed and it was found that none of the cases disposed after the year 2000 were affected. All appropriate remittances have been paid to the state, and the coding problem has been resolved, so no further action is necessary.