Auditor cites county deficiencies

LINCOLN -- Nebraska's auditor of public accounts indicates in annual reports that a lack of "segregation of duties" in county courts in Red Willow, Hitchcock and Hayes counties increases the risk of errors or irregularities.

A segregation of duties would ensure that one staff person does not process a transaction from beginning to end.

Each county's audit recognizes, however, that "adequate segregation of duties is not possible without additional cost" involved in hiring additional personnel.

Red Willow County Judge Cloyd Clark said the auditor met with staff members to discuss the auditor's report. "Any deficiencies have been corrected," Judge Clark said.

The report prepared by Deputy State Auditor Deann Haeffner CPA for Red Willow County reads, "As always, the cost of hiring additional personnel versus the benefit of a proper segregation of duties must be weighed."

In Hitchcock County's "report card," Haeffner also reported a comment on bond assignments: defendants' elections to assign bonds to fines or costs were not consistently documented, in writing, by use of the "assignment of bond form" prescribed by the Nebraska State Court Administrator's office.

A note from the court court indicates that the assignment form will now be attached to each case file for which a bond has been posted.

Red Willow County's report indicated additional deficiencies:

- Overdue balances: warrants and/or suspensions or other follow-up items were not taken by the Court to follow up on overdue case balances in a timely manner.

- Procedural deficiencies: Overpayments were not refunded to defendants, checks were not restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt, garnishment checks made payable to the Court were directly endorsed and sent to the plaintiff, and case dismissals did not have proper documentation on file from prosecutors to support such dismissals.

- Non-waiverable court costs: Contrary to state statute, the Court was billing court costs on uncollectible and/or dismissed cases brought under a city municipal code to the county government rather than the city government.