Press Release  Bump Issues State Audit of Bristol Superior Court

Boston — State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today released an audit of the Bristol Superior Court which identified improvements needed in its operations including the recording of evidence and financial management.

Today’s audit reported that Bristol Superior Court (BSC) failed to maintain a detailed record of evidence. Without this information, the Clerk’s Office cannot ensure that evidence related to criminal cases is properly accounted for. Additionally, BSC does not have a tracking system in place to monitor the location of case files when cases are removed from the secured storage area. 

Auditor Bump’s review also found that the Clerk’s Office was not safeguarding cash collected throughout the day. Such practices create a risk that the Commonwealth may not receive all the funds to which it is entitled and money could be lost or stolen and such occurrences would not be detected in a timely manner.

Additionally, the audit found that the Probation Office was not consistently holding administrative hearings to assess a probationer’s ability and willingness to pay supervision fees or perform community service after falling behind two consecutive months. Auditors also found the Probation Office was not effectively tracking all the hours of community service performed and, as a result, cannot readily determine that the probationer has adhered to the terms and conditions of his/her court ordered probation.

The Office of the State Auditor conducts technical assessments and performance audits of state government’s programs, departments, agencies, authorities, contracts, and vendors. With its reports, the OSA issues recommendations to improve accountability, efficiency, and transparency.

The Bristol Superior Court audit is available here.

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