YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri Claire McCaskill

Report No. 2006-17

March 2006

During our audit of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, city of Kansas City, Missouri, Municipal Division, we identified the following problems.

During our audit of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, city of Kansas City, Missouri, Municipal Division we found some offenders are released from probation without paying restitution.  Auditors reviewed 25 restitution cases and noted 11 offenders whose probation expired without full restitution being made on their cases.  The unpaid restitution for just these 11 cases totaled approximately $13,800.

The division's restitution receivable balance at July 5, 2005, was $1,590,685, but it appears this total is not accurate.  During our audit, we identified cases where the amount paid exceeded the amount due, but because of a computer formula error, the cases still show a balance due. These errors could have been detected if the division reconciled the ending restitution receivable balance to the beginning balance, plus new judgments, minus restitution paid.

The restitution report for July 5, 2005, included 9,393 cases, and totaled approximately $189,000.  The city's restitution account balance at this same date was approximately $38,450, indicating a potential shortage of approximately $150,550.  The difference between the monthly restitution reports and the cash balance has significantly increased since our prior audit.  Our audit tests noted significant inaccuracies in the open items balance, indicating the restitution report cannot be relied upon.  Additionally, the restitution report includes cases dating back to 1989 that have amounts still due.  While this same condition was noted in our prior audit report, the municipal division took no action to resolve this problem.

The court administrator does not prepare a monthly listing of open items (liabilities) for the bond account.  At April 30, 2005, the city held bonds totaling $790,842.  This recommendation was made to the court during our last two audits and the municipal division indicated an open items listing would be prepared and reconciled quarterly, but no action has been taken to implement this recommendation.

Court costs were waived on 9 of 110 cases reviewed, although the charges were not dismissed by the court, which violates state law.  For several of these nine cases, we noted restitution or fines being assessed and for at least two cases where costs were waived, but fines were still collected by the court.

The audit also includes recommendations related to accounting controls, traffic tickets and summonses, and non-monetary transactions.

Complete Audit Report