| Organization: | Office of the State Auditor |
|---|---|
| Date published: | April 11, 2025 |
Executive Summary
In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office (BCDA) for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023.
The purpose of our audit was to determine the following:
- whether BCDA ensured that forfeited assets were collected, deposited, and distributed in accordance with Section 47(d) of Chapter 94C of the General Laws and BCDA’s internal “Forfeited Property Procedures”;
- whether all BCDA employees received cybersecurity awareness training in accordance with cybersecurity awareness training requirements included in Sections 6.2.3 and 6.2.4 of the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security’s Information Security Risk Management Standard IS.010; and
- whether BCDA updated its internal control plan to include all the critical components of enterprise risk management as well as monitoring controls, as recommended in our prior audit.
Below is a summary of our findings, the effects of those findings, and our recommendations, with links to each page listed.
| Finding 1 | BCDA did not ensure that all forfeited assets from cases were documented or deposited properly. |
| Effect | By not signing receipts or deposit slips for the received forfeited funds or documenting any associated police department funds BCDA held, BCDA may not be able to ensure the accuracy and transparency of accounting of the received funds. This could result in discrepancies and disputes about the total amount of funds that are being deposited and distributed to the associated police departments. By not depositing forfeited funds in a timely manner, BCDA made it so that it and local police departments did not have access to this funding—for an extended time–to which they were entitled, which could have been used to defray the costs of investigations, equipment, federal grant matching applications, drug rehabilitation and education, or for other purposes deemed appropriate by the District Attorney or local police department. |
| Recommendations |
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| Finding 2 | BCDA did not provide its employees with cybersecurity awareness training. |
| Effect | Without educating its employees on their responsibility to protect the security of information assets, BCDA exposes itself to a higher risk of cybersecurity attacks and financial and/or reputational losses. |
| Recommendations |
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| Finding 3 | BCDA did not update its internal control plan to include all the critical components of enterprise risk management, as recommended in our prior audit. |
| Effect | Without updating its internal control plan, BCDA may not identify and/or mitigate all risks that could prevent it from accomplishing its objectives. |
| Recommendation | BCDA should establish policies and procedures to ensure that its internal control plan is updated annually and when significant changes occur. |
Table of Contents
Appendix
Downloads
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Open PDF file, 338.96 KB, Audit Report - Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office (English, PDF 338.96 KB)