Auditor Fitzpatrick releases report uncovering at least $3,886 missing from the City of Desloge Municipal Court

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick today released a report detailing how the former Court Administrator for the City of Desloge Municipal Court, located in the Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuit in St. Francois County, is responsible for at least $3,886 in missing money, and may have used methods to conceal another $4,482 in potentially missing funds. The audit report, which was prompted by a Whistleblower Hotline submission, gives the court a rating of "poor" and recommends the City of Desloge Municipal Court Division work with law enforcement officials to pursue those responsible for the missing money.

"Former Court Administrator Heather Steinmetz violated the trust placed in her by the people of the City of Desloge and abused the authority of her position to embezzle at least $3,886 and possibly significantly more than that. Our office has worked with law enforcement throughout this process and recommends that the court take the necessary steps to hold Steinmetz accountable for her wrongdoing," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "The report makes it clear the court needs to improve the segregation of duties and the level of oversight to make certain this kind of potentially criminal behavior can't happen again."

Of the $3,886 in missing money documented in the report, $1,568 was cash recorded on manual receipt slips but never deposited by Steinmetz. Instead the former Court Administrator recorded 8 payments, totaling $1,568, on manual receipt slips but did not record some or all of the receipted amounts in the court system and the receipts were not deposited. Steinmetz also failed to deposit $1,349.50 in fines and costs collected from 10 defendants. Instead, the related cases showed non-monetary community service orders in the system in lieu of these fines and costs. She also did not deposit $508.50 in cash collected from 5 defendants whose transactions were entered into the court system as non-monetary judicial order transactions. Another $413 is missing because Steinmetz improperly recorded and did not deposit 8 cash court payments placed in the city's after hours drop box. The final $47 in missing money is the result of the former Court Administrator altering the fines and costs due written on at least 4 defendant case records to conceal money received and not deposited.

The report notes there are an additional 38 unsupported non-monetary community service transactions, totaling $4,482, in the system that may represent additional missing money. These transactions were for defendants that allegedly performed community service, but the court did not retain/maintain time records or other documentation to support the community service. Given that the former Court Administrator did not deposit other money collected and recorded it as non-monetary community service transactions, it is possible some or all of the funds related to these 38 non-monetary transactions are also missing.

The audit makes it clear the money was allowed to go missing and not detected in a timely manner because the municipal division does not adequately segregate accounting and recordkeeping duties. Furthermore, neither the Municipal Judge nor other court personnel perform supervisory or independent reviews of municipal division accounting and court records. This allowed the former Court Administrator to be solely responsible for collecting receipts, recording court receipts and case activity to the court system, preparing disbursements, and preparing monthly financial reports for court activities. The current system also allows for manual receipt slips to be issued but not entered into the court system, and does not require a receipt slip to be issued or otherwise documented for the drop box receipts transmitted by city personnel. It also allows the Court Administrator to process non-monetary fee adjustments without an independent or supervisory review. The audit report recommends the court division make improvements in all of these areas.

Fitzpatrick added, "This audit highlights the importance of the Whistleblower Hotline as a tool Missourians can use to help my office ensure accountability and transparency from taxpayer-funded organizations and programs. As the state's official taxpayer watchdog, the State Auditor's Office is committed to working with Missouri taxpayers to make sure government is using public funds appropriately."

The complete report is available here.