CCC: Unannounced Cash Verification - Dated May 14, 2024
Summary
The Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller's Department of Inspector General conducted an unannounced cash verification of 12 change funds distributed across 75 drawers and bags within the Civil Courts, Criminal Courts, and Records departments. Cash counts were performed between April 10–12, 2023, verifying fund existence, reconciliation to supporting documentation, physical security, general ledger agreement, and the completeness of change fund control forms.
All change funds were present in the correct amounts and reconciled to supporting documentation; safes were properly secured and control forms were filed with Financial Services. However, the IG identified three opportunities for improvement related to physical safeguarding of cash and keys, timely accounting for juror cash fund reimbursements, and consistent documentation of change fund custody.
All management responses agreed with the findings and provided corrective action plans with target implementation dates ranging from actions already completed in 2023 through May 2025.
3 findings
- Observation 1mediumcash handling
Change funds and cash drawer keys left unsecured and unattended
On April 12, 2023, the IG observed multiple instances of unsecured cash across several divisions. In Family Civil and Official Records, two unattended cash drawers each were found with keys inserted in the locks. In Criminal Customer Service, two cash drawers, one juror bag, and a deposit were left unattended on a cashier balancing table; vault room keys for change fund drawers and juror bags were hanging openly on hooks despite dual-control safe requirements; and five juror cash funds inside the locked safe were stored in clear zippered bags with no locking mechanism.
Recommendation: Implement a formal written office-wide cash handling policy addressing proper physical security of cash and deposits, and proper key control for keys to cash drawers and bags. Consider returning change funds to Financial Services if they are not consistently being used to reduce the risk of misplacement or misappropriation.Management response: All departments (Family Civil, Criminal, Records, and Financial Services) agreed. Corrective actions included retraining staff on key security, returning infrequently used jury funds to Finance, placing vault keys in a locked box with restricted access, retraining leadership to secure drawers and bags immediately when not in use, implementing cash handling procedures (CR-CS188), replacing clear zippered bags with locking zippered bags, and incorporating procedures into an office-wide Financial Transaction Policy/Guideline targeted for completion by May 2025. - Observation 2mediumcash handling
Juror cash fund reimbursement not processed or monitored timely
On April 12, 2023, the IG identified one juror bag containing a Pending Reimbursement Form dated January 25, 2023, that had not been replenished for approximately 11 weeks. The pooled cash account had been debited on January 26, 2023, but no documentation existed to confirm the cash order was delivered, as delivery was disrupted by a BRINKS outage. The account was not credited for the undelivered cash order until April 27, 2023, after the IG's inquiry.
Recommendation: Implement a formal written procedure for periodic monitoring of cash reimbursements for juror change funds. Incorporate Financial Services in the process and require respective departments to provide Financial Services with signed delivery receipts.Management response: Criminal and Financial Services both agreed. Criminal retrained division leadership to conduct weekly cash counts for jury bags and committed to updating procedure CR-CS010 (Clearing and Balancing Jury Payments) to include periodic monitoring. Financial Services committed to updating procedure FL-GL098 (Juror Cash Payment Reconciliation) to require signed delivery receipts and to incorporate these controls into the office-wide Financial Transaction Policy/Guideline by May 2025. - Observation 3lowpolicy
Inconsistent documentation of custody for assigned change funds
Practices for documenting custody of assigned change funds were inconsistent across divisions. One change fund had multiple Division Change Fund Control Forms bearing the same date but signed by different individuals as supervisor/designee. In another instance, a supervisor signed both the Division Change Fund Control Form and the Custodian/Cashier Change Fund Control Form as custodian/cashier and supervisor/designee for a fund split among six cashier drawers and two cash boxes, without obtaining signatures from the individual cashiers, undermining individual accountability. Additionally, the distribution totals on Custodian/Cashier Change Fund Control Forms did not always agree with the corresponding Division Change Fund Control Form.
Recommendation: Implement a formal written office-wide procedure providing guidance for documenting accountability for assigned change funds on change fund control forms, including completing, updating, and maintaining those forms.Management response: Financial Services agreed. Corrective actions include working with departments to ensure cashiers sign the Custodian/Cashier Change Fund Control Form, drafting a Change Fund Procedure (Action Plan #427) to govern establishment, assignment, updating, and monitoring of change funds and forms, and incorporating this procedure into the office-wide Financial Transaction Policy/Guideline (Action Plan #159), with target dates of September 2024 and May 2025.