YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

April 3, 2003

Report No. 2003-29

IMPORTANT:� The Missouri State Auditor is required by Missouri law to conduct audits only once every four years in counties, like Hickory, which do not have a county auditor.� However, to assist such counties in meeting federal audit requirements, the State Auditor will also provide a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds every two years.� This voluntary service to Missouri counties can only be provided when state auditing resources are available and it does not interfere with the State Auditor's constitutional responsibility of auditing state government.

Once every four years, the State Auditor's statutory audit will cover additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.

This audit of Hickory County included additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials.� The following concerns were noted as part of the audit:

• Bids were not always solicited nor was bid documentation always retained by the county for various purchases.� Additionally, documentation was not maintained by the county to substantiate why the overall low bid for gravel was not accepted in 2002.
  
  
• A state law, Section 50.333.13, RSMo, enacted in 1997, allowed salary commissions meeting in 1997 to provide mid-term salary increases for associate county commissioners elected in 1996 due to the fact that their terms were increased from two years to four.� Based on this law, in 1999 Hickory County's Associate County Commissioners' salaries were each increased approximately $3,168 yearly, according to information provided by the County Clerk.

On May 15, 2001, the Missouri Supreme Court handed down an opinion in a case that challenged the validity of that statute.� The Supreme Court held that this section of statute violated Article VII, section 13 of the Missouri Constitution, which specifically prohibits an increase in compensation for state, county and municipal officers during the term of office.� Based on the Supreme Court decision, the raises given to each of the Associate County Commissioners, totaling approximately $6,336 should be repaid.

• The duties of receiving, recording, and depositing are not adequately segregated in the Sheriff's office.� Receipts are not always deposited timely, the method of payment is not always indicated on the receipt slips, and voided receipt slips are not retained.� The Sheriff's office does not maintain its petty cash fund on a imprest basis.� A comparison between the number of prisoner meals billed and received and the number of prisoners fed is not performed by either the Sheriff or the County Clerk.� Mileage reimbursements prepared by the Sheriff's employees do not always include detailed information about the purpose of the trip and destination.� A perpetual inventory record of seized property is not maintained.
  
  
• Budgets prepared by the health center were not accurate and complete.� Receipts are not deposited on a timely basis, and receipt slips are not issued for some monies received.� The Health Center Board did not have a formal depositary agreement with its depositary bank.� The open meeting minutes did not always document the specific reasons for closing the meeting and actions taken by the board in closed meetings.� Additions of fixed assets are not always recorded as they occur and fixed asset expenditures are not reconciled to additions to the inventory records.

Also included in the audit are recommendations related to county budgets, bonding, general fixed assets, property tax controls, and procedures of the Prosecuting Attorney.

Complete Audit Report