Luallen Releases Audit of
Gallatin County Clerk’s Fee Account



See the audit report for Full Details

Crit Luallen
Auditor of Public Accounts
105 Sea Hero Road, Suite 2
Frankfort, KY 40601

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(Frankfort - July 28, 2008) State Auditor Crit Luallen today released the audit of the 2007 financial statement of Gallatin County Clerk, Tracy Miles. State law requires the Auditor to conduct annual audits of county clerks and sheriffs.

The audit found that the Clerk’s financial statement presents fairly the revenues, expenditures, and excess fees of the Gallatin County Clerk in conformity with the regulatory basis of accounting.

As part of the audit process, the Auditor must comment on non-compliance with laws, regulations, contracts and grants. The Auditor must also comment on material weaknesses involving the internal control over financial operations and reporting.

The audit contains the following comment: the County Clerk’s office lacks adequate segregation of duties over disbursements. The Clerk is responsible for approving all purchases, preparing and signing disbursement checks, posting to the ledger, as well as, handling non-sufficient funds and voided checks. In addition, the Clerk is responsible for reconciling the bank statement. The audit recommends that the Clerk assign maintaining the disbursements to a Deputy Clerk, not responsible for receipts, while the Clerk continues to perform the bank reconciliation. If another employee is responsible for maintaining disbursements and the associated ledger, the Clerk could implement the following practices:

  • The Clerk could periodically compare invoices to payments, documenting this by initialing the invoice.
  • The Clerk could require dual signatures on all disbursement checks, with one required signature being that of the Clerk.
  • The Clerk could compare the balance in the checkbook to the bank reconciliation, documenting this by initialing the checkbook balance.

The Gallatin County Clerk, Tracy Miles, responded, “I will have a deputy clerk either write checks or do the bank reconciliation.”

The County Clerk’s responsibilities include collecting certain taxes, issuing licenses, maintaining county records and providing other services. The Clerk’s office is funded through statutory fees collected in conjunction with these duties.

 

Crit Luallen
Auditor of Public Accounts
105 Sea Hero Road, Suite 2
Frankfort, KY 40601
WEB:
www.auditor.ky.gov/