YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2004-68

September 13, 2004

IMPORTANT:  The Missouri State Auditor is required by state law to conduct audits once every 4 years in counties, like Linn County, that do not have a county auditor.  In addition to a financial and compliance audit of various county operating funds, the State Auditor's statutory audit covers additional areas of county operations, as well as the elected county officials, as required by Missouri's Constitution.

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

• The county's schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA), which includes health center programs, contained numerous errors and omissions.  Some federal grants pertaining to drug eradication and hazardous materials training and planning were omitted.  Some federal grant expenditures were overstated as a result of reporting matching funds in the expenditure totals.  In addition, the wrong CFDA numbers and program titles were reported for some grants.   

• Although a letter to the state Department of Transportation indicated the county had considered three engineering firms, there was no documentation to support the county commissioners' considerations for selecting the firm.  Documentation of a proposal could be located for only the firm selected.  As a result, $68,578 of costs were questioned.

• The county was designated as the recipient for a Community Development Block Grant totaling $241,000, for construction of a senior center.  The county paid $15,000 to the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission (GHRPC) to administer the grant.   The GHRPC submitted requests for payment to the county for approval; however, the county did not obtain and review supporting documentation. 

• The Circuit Clerk's procedures related to criminal cost billings are not adequate.  The Circuit Clerk does not adequately monitor cases in which the individual has been sentenced to prison to ensure the state is billed within two years of the date of judgment or sentencing.  The time limit to submit reimbursement requests to the state for three cases reviewed expired in July 2004, resulting in a potential loss of revenue totaling approximately $5,000.  In addition, criminal cost reimbursements for change of venue cases are not adequately monitored and instances were noted in which the state was billed for the incorrect number of days.  There was no procedure in place to ensure manual receipt slips that were sometimes issued when the Justice Information System was inaccessible were promptly recorded on the system when accessible.   A complete listing of accrued costs owed to the court is not maintained by the Circuit Clerk.

• Accounting duties in the Prosecuting Attorney's office are not adequately segregated, receipts are not deposited on a timely basis, monthly listings of open items are not prepared and reconciled to the cash balance, and a listing of accrued court ordered restitution is not maintained by the Prosecuting Attorney.

Also included in the audit are recommendations related to bidding, establishment of a Sheriff Civil Fees Fund, the Public Administrator's salary and procedures, property tax controls and withholdings, township published financial statements, and health center accounting controls.

Complete Audit Report