Press Release  Bump Issues State Audit of Middlesex Superior Court

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

Today’s audit reported that Middlesex Superior Court (MSC) did not maintain a centralized evidence log with complete information about the quantities of evidence in its possession. Without this information, the Clerk’s Office may not be able to locate evidence when needed and there is a greater risk for evidence to be misplaced or misappropriated.

Since the completion of the audit, MSC has utilized grant money to fund an evidence officer position. The staff member will focus on consolidating all prior evidence lists into one document and also include all pertinent information.

Auditor Bump’s review also found that MSC was not consistently complying with requirements for the collection of legal counsel fees and the reporting of uncollected fees. This included notifying the appropriate state agencies of outstanding fees and ensuring that bail was not returned until fees were paid. MSC officials are hopeful that the forthcoming implementation of a centralized computer software system for state courts could potentially improve and even simplify the tracking and collection of legal counsel fees. The system is scheduled to be put in place by the end of 2014.

Today’s audit noted improvements at Middlesex Superior Court since its last report was issued in 2010. The court has improved its records for inventory of blank checks, how it issues refunds, and how it processes unclaimed, civil escrow, forfeited, and defaulted bail funds.

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 Middlesex Superior Court audit is available here.

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