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Montco district courts to now be audited locally

Montgomery County's district courts are about to face an added layer of scrutiny. After 16 years of being audited only by the state auditor general, the courts' finances will now be scrutinized by the county controller's office as well.

Montgomery County's district courts are about to face an added layer of scrutiny.

After 16 years of being audited only by the state auditor general, the courts' finances will now be scrutinized by the county controller's office as well.

Montgomery County's district courts take in about $20 million a year in fines and fees, about $3 million of which is remanded to the county.

Controller Stewart Greenleaf Jr. said the decision was not motivated by any malfeasance, but was intended to promote efficiency and deter any misuse of the system by filers.

Due to a backlog of work by the Auditor General's Office, Greenleaf said, the county courts "have gone without any outside oversight for several years." In addition, the state's audits cover only state funds.

The most recent auditor general reports looked at court receipts from 2005 to 2009. Of the 30 courts in Montgomery County, seven were found to have accounting problems that could "result in uncollected fines and unpunished offenders, and increase the risk for funds to be lost or misappropriated."

In Collegeville District Court from 2006 to 2008, auditors found unpaid checks totaling $1,416, a $1,731 discrepancy in the books, and a delay in resolving those types of inconsistencies. The audit also found that filing fees for civil cases were not deposited promptly and that procedures for enforcing unpaid bills were not followed consistently.

The presiding judge during that period, Benjamin R. Crahalla, had retired by the time the audit came out in August 2011.

Several district courts reviewed during that period had no issues, and a few were commended for having resolved problems cited in previous audits.

The controller's audits will begin with 2012.