Columbus – Allegations of theft by a former court clerk were confirmed in an audit of the Harrison County Juvenile Court released today by Auditor of State Dave Yost.  Findings for recovery of almost $5,000 were issued.

“As children, we are taught to keep our hands out of the cookie jar,” Auditor Yost said.  “Those who break the trust we’ve placed in them get to keep neither the cookies nor their job.”

Allegations of theft of funds at the Harrison County Juvenile Court prompted a criminal inquiry by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI&I).  On February 11, 2011, on behalf of the court, BCI&I requested the investigative assistance of the Auditor of State’s Office.  Upon this request, the Auditor of State’s Special Audit Task Force reviewed the information and joined the ongoing BCI&I investigation.

The investigation was conducted to determine whether the money collected by the court clerk for various fines and fees via manually prepared receipts was recorded in the court’s computer system.  Auditors also traced the receipts recorded in court’s accounting system to determine whether the amounts were deposited into the court’s bank account.  The audit period covered August 2009 through January 2011.

The investigation found that $2,465 in cash and $1,364 in checks collected was not traceable to the court’s computer cash receipt reports.  The $2,465 in cash collected was not deposited to the bank.  Two additional checks totaling $238 were not deposited to the bank.  A comparison of detailed bank deposit slips to the court’s receipt ledger found that 22 deposit slips did not match the receipt ledger.  Of the $9,068 collected per the receipt ledger, $2,212 was not deposited to the bank.

Findings for recovery in the total amount of $4,915 were issued against former Harrison County Juvenile Court Clerk Cathy Rose, in favor of the court.  Rose was convicted of charges of theft in office and tampering with evidence on November 18, 2011, and is set to be sentenced on December 14, 2011.

 A full copy of this audit may be found here.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,600 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
(614) 728-7198