Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the processes and procedures for the Court’s financial operations for the period January 1, 2013 through September 4, 2014.

Background

The Town of Sweden is located in Monroe County, has a population of approximately 14,175 and includes the State University of New York College at Brockport. The Town is governed by an elected five-member Town Board, which has the overall responsibility for overseeing the financial activities of the Town, including the financial activity of the Justice Court. During 2013, the Court collected approximately $414,000 in fines and surcharges.

Key Findings

• The Justices are not providing sufficient oversight of Court operations and have not adequately segregated the duties of their clerks.
• The clerks prepare monthly bank reconciliations and accountability analyses. However, the Justices do not regularly review them.
• The clerks have developed their own practice for identifying cases to be reported to the scofflaw program, but do not use the report that includes all tickets pending for more than 60 days, which led to filing inaccuracies.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure that the Court clerks’ duties are adequately segregated.
• Review bank statements, bank reconciliations and accountability analyses and the Court's accounting records on a regular basis for timeliness and accuracy.
• Ensure all traffic tickets that are unresolved after 60 days are reported to the DMV for scofflaw.