Knox Co. Judge-Executive responds to audit findings

Two full years after an audit of the Knox County Fiscal Court, the 2014 results have finally been released from the state auditors office. While there were no real issues concerning the misuse or misplacement of money, the audit found several instances of improper procedures.

The audit specifically outlines the following issues:

• The Knox County Fiscal Court lacks adequate segregation of duties over disbursements.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not have strong internal controls over disbursements.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not have adequate internal controls over gravel inventory.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not follow proper bid laws and regulations.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not ensure the same level of health insurance benefits are provided to all county employees as stated in Kentucky Attorney General Opinion (OAG) 94-15.
• The Knox County Jail commissary lacks adequate segregation of duties over receipts and disbursements.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court failed to implement adequate internal controls over federal funds.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court failed to implement adequate internal controls over procurement.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not have sufficient internal controls to ensure federal requirements for matching were met.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not implement adequate internal controls over suspension and debarment and special tests and provisions.
• The Knox County Fiscal Court did not follow proper bid laws and regulations.

Knox County Judge executive JM Hall responded to each issue in the audit. And, considering the audit took two years to be released, most of the problems have already been addressed.

“This audit is for 2014 and a lot of it has already been taken care of,” explained Hall. “We have implemented new procedures and added new positions. We’ve got the treasurer double checking disbursements. We’ve hired a new person at the garage to keep a log of when gravel goes out or comes in. We’ve hired new people and designated more people on those procedures. And they’ve been in place for a year.”