Justice Court 2nd Follow-up Audit

AUDITOR’S LETTER
JULY 2024

In keeping with generally accepted government auditing standards and Auditor’s Office policy, as authorized by Utah Code Title 17, Chapter 19a, “County Auditor,” Part 2, “Powers and Duties.”, we have a responsibility to monitor and follow up on audit recommendations to ensure county agencies address audit findings through appropriate corrective action and to aid us in planning future audits.

This letter serves as the final follow-up audit report for Salt Lake County Justice Court. The original audit report was issued in April 2022, followed by a preliminary follow-up report in October 2022. The original audit report identified 25 findings with 46 recommendations. In the preliminary follow-up, Justice Court management implemented 27 of the 46 recommendations, 17 were in progress, and 2 were closed.

The Salt Lake County Justice Court initially agreed to implement all 46 recommendations outlined in our April 2022 audit. This commitment was documented in their formal management response.

Unfortunately, during this final follow-up in July 2024, we found that not all recommendations have been implemented. In this final follow-up, 11 findings and 17 recommendations remained to be tested. Justice Court management has fully implemented 8 of the 17 remaining recommendations, 4 were in progress, 3 were not implemented and 2 were closed. Overall, Justice Court management implemented 35 of 46 recommendations, 4 were in progress, 3 were not implemented and 4 were closed.

Over the past two years, the court has implemented 76% of the recommendations (35 out of 46), including those related to timely deposits, segregation of duties, and reporting unclaimed property. However, it is concerning that 15% (7 recommendations) remain unaddressed. These outstanding recommendations primarily involve improving internal controls over mail handling, record-keeping for the Mail Log, and establishing written policies and procedures for Trust Account disbursements and reconciliations. Fully implementing these recommendations is crucial for enhancing the court’s financial management practices and ensuring the safeguarding of public funds.

The Auditor’s office has fulfilled its follow-up responsibilities by conducting two follow-up audits on these recommendations. For the outstanding recommendations, it is now the responsibility of the Justice Court management to implement these recommendations and the County Council to provide oversight and enforcement, if needed, to mitigate the associated risks. The Auditor’s Office will no longer be following up on these recommendations. Without sufficient oversight from management, these identified issues and their corresponding recommendations will not be addressed. It is crucial for the Justice Court management and the County Council to ensure these recommendations are implemented to manage the risks effectively.

We performed this audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We appreciate the leaders and team members at the Justice Court who shared their time and knowledge with us during the audit. We appreciate the cooperation and assistance provided by all county stakeholders during this audit.

Please contact me at 385-468-7200 with any questions.

Chris Harding, CPA, CFE, CIA
Salt Lake County Auditor