Auditor Galloway identifies concerns in audit of Putnam County, provides recommendations to county officials

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway today issued an audit of Putnam County that identified areas of concern and provided recommendations to county officials to address those concerns. This review gave a rating of "good," an improvement from the "fair" rating given in a previous audit of Putnam County in 2016.

The audit found various controls and procedures need improvement in the County Assessor's office, which collects fees for maps, plat books, on-line GIS data access, and other miscellaneous receipts. The County Assessor has not adequately segregated accounting duties and does not always perform documented supervisory reviews of the accounting and bank records. Proper segregation of duties and documented independent or supervisory reviews are necessary to ensure all transactions are accounted for properly and assets are adequately safeguarded. The audit also found that the County Assessor's office did not always timely deposit receipts or timely disburse receipts to the County Collector-Treasurer.

The Prosecuting Attorney's office does not always timely disburse bad check and court-ordered restitution payments to victims or fees received to the County Collector-Treasurer. The office collected approximately $18,700 in bad check and court-ordered restitution and fees in 2021. Timely disbursements are necessary to ensure victims are compensated, receipts are properly accounted for, and to reduce the risk of loss, theft, or misuse of funds.

Auditors also found that the county does not have procedures in place to identify capital asset purchases and dispositions throughout the year. In addition, county officials have not conducted annual physical inventories or provided inventory lists to the County Clerk as required. As a result, the county's capital asset records are not complete and up to date.

The audit also recommends that the county develop a written records management and retention policy to address electronic communications management and retention to comply with Missouri law.

The county's operations include the Putnam County Memorial Hospital, which is audited separately and therefore not a part of this report. In 2017, Auditor Galloway uncovered a $90 million billing scheme through a routine audit of the county's hospital that eventually led to federal criminal convictions of the perpetrators of the fraud.

A complete copy of the audit report is available here.