Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to examine the Court’s financial operations for the period January 1, 2013 through March 17, 2015.

Background

The Town of Livonia is located in Livingston County and has a population of approximately 7,800. The Town, which is governed by an elected five-member Town Board, maintains a Justice Court with two elected Justices. For 2014, the Town reported net revenues from fines and surcharges of approximately $40,300.

Key Findings

• The Justices did not require the clerk to perform monthly bank reconciliations or accountabilities for their review.
• The Justices did not routinely submit monthly reports to OSC’s Justice Court Fund (JCF) and did not remit more than $151,000 collected to the Supervisor in a timely manner.
• Neither the Justices nor the Court clerk adequately monitored defendant cases with unpaid fines and surcharges.
• The Board did not conduct an annual audit of the Justices’ books as required by statute.

Key Recommendations

• Require the clerk to prepare proper bank reconciliations and accountability analyses on a monthly basis for the Justices’ review.
• Submit monthly reports to the JCF and remit money collected to the Supervisor no later than the tenth day of the following month.
• Develop a system to identify and adequately monitor cases with unpaid fines and fees so that appropriate action can be taken to enforce payment in a timely manner.
• Annually audit the Justices’ books and records or engage the services of an independent public accountant to do so.