Summarize the following:

Audit Objective

Determine whether the Justices and Town of Marion $($Town$)$ Board provided adequate oversight of the Justice Court $($Court$)$ to ensure cash collections were properly deposited, recorded, reported and remitted.

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Key Findings

The Justices and Board did not provide adequate oversight of Court financial activities. As a result, the former court clerk was able to misappropriate more than $$59,000,$ or $38$ percent of the fines, fees and surcharges collected between January $1,2016$ through May $31,2021.$ In August $2023,$ the former court clerk pled guilty to grand larceny in the second degree, corrupting the government in the second degree, tampering with records in the first degree and official misconduct. In October $2023,$ the former court clerk was sentenced to serve six months in jail and pay more than $$59,000$ in restitution.

The Justices did not:

$*$ Perform a proper review of reports submitted to New York State agencies to ensure that all cases, including any cash collected $($e$.$g$.,$ fines and fees$),$ were properly reported and remitted.

$*$ Perform an adequate review of bank reconciliations or accountabilities $($compare current assets to current liabilities$)$ to ensure that all collections were accurately accounted for and to promptly identify discrepancies. The Justices also did not review deleted transactions reports.

The Board did not:

$*$ Perform a proper annual audit.

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Background

The Town of Marion $($Town$)$ is located in Wayne County and is governed by an elected Board composed of a Town Supervisor $($Supervisor$)$ and four Board members. The Board is responsible for the general oversight of Town operations, including oversight of the Court's financial activities.

The Town's two elected Justices are responsible for monitoring and managing Court financial activity. A court clerk assists the Justices with processing cases and related financial transactions, including submitting monthly financial activity reports and traffic dispositions to various New York State agencies. The former court clerk referred to in this report retired in August $2020$ but returned in September $2020,$ the month that the Town received our audit notification letter.

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Key Recommendations

$*$ Perform a thorough review of the reports submitted to New York State agencies.

$*$ Perform monthly bank reconciliations and accountabilities, and promptly review and resolve any differences.

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

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