Justice Court Judges' Response Judge Griffin: I agree.. Recommendation The Justice Court Clerk should comply with the accounting system prescribed in the manual.. 1972, requires the Chan
Trang 1Recommendation The Board of Supervisors should ensure that this agreement is executed and maintained as required by FIRREA Since the requirements of FIRREA have not been met pursuant to an executed collateral security agreement between the county and Union Planters Bank, the county may not have a perfected security interest in the collateral
Board of Supervisors' Response
We are waiting on an Attorney General's opinion on this matter and will get it corrected Sheriff
(Auditor's Note: This finding is on the former Sheriff, A A McMullen.)
Finding Reconciliations of all bank accounts were not performed on a monthly basis
Recommendation The Sheriff should insure that competent personnel reconcile all bank accounts on a monthly basis
Sheriff's Response (Auditor's Note: The Sheriff is no longer in office and was unavailable to respond We attempted to contact him but were unable to locate him.)
Justice Court Judges
(Auditor's Note: This finding is on the judges for the 1992-1996 term as follows: Mark Massengill and James Griffin.)
Finding
No procedures for collection of past due accounts have been established
Recommendation The Justice Court Judges should establish when an account is past due and establish procedures for collection of past due accounts
Justice Court Judges' Response Judge Griffin: I agree We are not a collection agency
Judge Massengill: I have established procedures for past due accounts The clerk has been directed to notify me if payment is not made when ordered
Trang 2Justice Court Clerk.
Section 7-7-211, Miss Code Ann (1972), gives the Office of the State Auditor the authority to prescribe accounting systems Separate cash drawers for each clerk and deputy clerk are required
in the Mississippi County Financial Accounting Manual We found no cash drawers were utilized
Recommendation
The Justice Court Clerk should comply with the accounting system prescribed in the manual Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have resigned effective April 30, 1996, and choose not to respond
Weak internal controls existed over the collection and remittance of cash
Recommendation
a Daily deposits should be verified by the clerk
b No adjustments should be made to a prior month once that month is closed and settled
c The Justice Court Clerk should attempt to collect returned checks
d Docket books should be updated or a notation made when an account is paid in full
e Settlements should be remitted by the 25th of each month
Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have resigned effective April 30, 1996, and choose not to respond
Service Organization - Delta Computer Systems, Inc
Finding
The land redemption system allows the deletion of records The system can be used with or without prenumbered original documents
Recommendation
The land redemption system should be modified to allow voiding of receipts but not deletion The counties using the system should use prenumbered originals
Trang 3Service Organization's Response All deletions of land redemption records are maintained in a deleted record file which is transparent to the user It is impossible for the computer system to recognize the difference between a prenumbered document and a non-prenumbered document It is the responsibility of the county to use the appropriate forms
B Findings for Independent Auditor's Report on Central Purchasing System and Purchase Clerk Schedules:
Board of Supervisors
(Auditor's Note: This finding on the Board of Supervisors is on the members of the former board for the 1992-1996 term as follows: Kenneth Leak, John Edward Peeler, Eugene Steward, O A Massengill and Stanley Wilkerson.)
Finding Section 31-7-103, Miss Code Ann (1972), states a purchase order is not "required for the purchase of any item or services with an acquisition cost of not more than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate; however, the invoice for every such purchase shall be signed by the department head or his or her designee " The Board of Supervisors has not appointed any designees in the official minutes of the board We found numerous invoices signed by persons other than the supervisor
Recommendation The invoice or receipt should be signed by the person making the purchase This person should
be the supervisor or his designee whose appointment is required to be recorded in the official minutes of the board
Board of Supervisors' Response
We will get this corrected
Receiving Clerk
Finding Section 31-7-109, Miss Code Ann (1972), states that a receiving report should be prepared by the person receiving the materials We discovered that personnel not receiving the materials were signing the receiving reports
Recommendation The Receiving Clerk or an assistant who actually receives the materials should prepare the receiving report
Receiving Clerk's Response
Trang 4C Findings for Independent Auditor's Report on Compliance with State Laws and Regulations:
Chancery Clerk
Section 7-7-211, Miss Code Ann (1972), gives the Office of the State Auditor the authority to prescribe accounting systems All revenues should be recorded in the county's financial records During the audited year, some interest income was not recorded on the county's books
Recommendation The Chancery Clerk should properly record all revenues as prescribed in the Mississippi County Financial Accounting Manual
Chancery Clerk's Response This has been corrected
Section 19-13-43, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires funds to have cash available before checks are written Checks were written on a county fund which did not have a sufficient cash balance Recommendation
The Chancery Clerk should insure that no checks are written on funds when cash is not available Chancery Clerk's Response
This has been corrected
Section 27-35-519, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the Chancery Clerk, as the clerk of the Board of Supervisors, to distribute the proceeds of the railcar tax to the schools and other taxing districts The Chancery Clerk deposited the entire proceeds of the railcar tax received from the state into the General Fund without distributing to the schools and other taxing districts their apportioned amount
Recommendation The Chancery Clerk should apportion or distribute the proceeds of the railcar tax to the schools and other taxing districts in proportion to the number of miles of railroad in the taxing districts
to the number of miles of railroad in the entire county
Chancery Clerk’s Response
I will settle these funds as required
Trang 5Tax Collector.
Section 27-49-1, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the Tax Collector to present to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting on the first Monday of October in each year a report of all insolvent and delinquent taxpayers in the county, with the amount due from each The required report was not presented to the board
Recommendation
The Tax Collector should present to the Board of Supervisors the report of insolvent and
delinquent taxpayers
Tax Collector's Response
I will comply
Sections 27-49-1 and 27-49-9, Miss Code Ann (1972), specify the actions to be taken for the sale of property, real or personal, of business taxpayers who are either insolvent or delinquent
We found no evidence that the Tax Collector seized and sold property in order to collect
delinquent business taxes Further, we discovered that some businesses on the insolvency list were still operating The list of delinquent taxpayers prepared by the Tax Collector included three businesses owned by Supervisor James Griffin (for the 1996-2000 term), one person contracting with the county to provide meals to the jail, and two other going concerns
Recommendation
The Tax Collector should make a concerted effort to collect delinquent business taxes through following the procedures specified in the law pertaining to the seizure and sale of property Tax Collector's Response
I will comply
Sheriff
(Auditor's Note: These findings are on the former Sheriff, A A McMullen.)
The jail docket had an unusually large amount of "indigent" persons released from jail without paying the necessary fees We found no documentation for the determination of indigence by the Sheriff nor any authorization from judges to release these people Further, one of the persons released as an "indigent" was a county employee who could not be considered indigent This resulted in a loss of revenue for the county and for the state
Trang 6Sheriff's Response
(Auditor's Note: The Sheriff is no longer in office and was unavailable to respond We
attempted to contact him but were unable to locate him.)
Section 7-7-211, Miss Code Ann (1972), gives the Office of the State Auditor the authority to prescribe accounting systems The Mississippi County Financial Accounting Manual requires that petty cash funds may only be used for unusual and non-recurring expenditures and not to circumvent the central purchasing system We found multiple instances of expenditures which were neither unusual nor non-recurring
Recommendation
The Sheriff should only use the petty cash fund for the necessary unusual and non-recurring expenditures
Sheriff's Response
(Auditor's Note: The Sheriff is no longer in office and was unavailable to respond We
attempted to contact him but were unable to locate him.)
Justice Court Judges
(Auditor's Note: These findings are on the judges for the 1992-1996 term as follows: Mark Massengill and James Griffin.)
Section 9-11-11, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the Justice Court Judges to sign each record upon disposition of the case Many case records were not signed
Recommendation
The Justice Court Judges should sign the case records
Justice Court Judges' Response
Judge Griffin: I sign the order of sentence in the case files
Judge Massengill: I keep my dockets up-to-date by initialing any case record marked "pending" and signing my name to all others The dockets which were unsigned had been printed lately, and I have not had the opportunity to sign them
Section 63-1-55, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the trial judge to approve a minor to
successfully complete a defensive driving course as a condition of a suspension of license The costs of court and penalty assessment for driver education and training program may be imposed within the discretion of the court We found the Justice Court Clerk, rather than the Justice
Trang 7Recommendation The Justice Court Judge should make the referral to driver education and training courses and charge assessments as required
Justice Court Judges' Response
Judge Griffin: I was not aware that the clerk had been handling these cases
Judge Massengill: I was not aware that the clerk had been handling these cases I have since talked to her and she is aware that only the judges can make this referral
Justice Court Clerk
Section 25-1-72, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the Justice Court Clerk to deposit funds into the county depository on the day they are collected or on the next business day thereafter All funds were not deposited as prescribed
Recommendation The Justice Court Clerk should deposit the funds collected as required
Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have resigned effective April 30, 1996, and choose not to respond
Section 63-1-55, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the trial judge to approve a minor to successfully complete a defensive driving course as a condition of a suspension of their driver's license The costs of court and a penalty assessment for driver education and training program
my be imposed within the discretion of the court We found the Justice Court Clerk, rather than the judge, was approving the referral to defensive driving courses for minors Also, no state assessments were collected on these cases
Recommendation The Justice Court Clerk should allow the judges to make the referral to driver education and training courses and charge assessments as required
Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have resigned effective April 30, 1996, and choose not to respond
Trang 83 Finding
Section 9-11-27, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires all orders from the Justice Court Judge to the Clerk of the Justice Court to be written We found dismissed cases without the judge's order Recommendation
The Justice Court Clerk should not dismiss cases without the written order of dismissal from the Justice Court Judge
Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have not dismissed tickets on my own Apparently the judge’s orders were misplaced in error
Section 9-11-19, Miss Code Ann (1972), requires the Justice Court Clerk to file with the Clerk
of the Board of Supervisors at least semiannually a list showing all delinquent fines and
penalties, giving the date, amount and names of persons from whom these amounts are due We found the list to be incomplete due to inaccurate recording of dispositions of cases by the clerk Recommendation
The Justice Court Clerk should review all uniform case records to ascertain the accuracy of information entered and fines and penalties imposed All of these delinquent fines should be reported to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
Justice Court Clerk's Response
I have resigned effective April 30, 1996, and choose not to respond