North Carolina’s clerks of Superior Court are countering criticism from State Auditor Beth Wood over a failure to correct ongoing problems.
“We emphatically deny that any clerk has or will refuse to correct identified serious problems,” Steven Cogburn, Buncombe County Clerk of Superior Court and president of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, wrote in a letter to Wood.
Previous audits identified the problems.
Although a “chronic problem” exists in clerks’ offices stemming from staff shortages, it’s a condition the General Assembly must remedy by providing additional resources, Cogburn said.
“Clerks are attentive to all aspects of the operations of their offices and welcome constructive instruction as to any areas where operations can be improved,” Cogburn wrote. He copied the letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin, Marion Warren, director of the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, and Bud Jennings, AOC chief financial officer.
Cogburn took issue with comments Wood made to Carolina Journal in response to audits in Orange and Carteret counties. The audits, Wood said, had two major findings, which aren’t specific to Orange and Carteret.
One area of concern is that office staff have overlapping duties instead of segregated roles that serve as checks and balances in money transactions. Wood said the potential for fraud or embezzlement exists when risk control procedures aren’t in place. That shortcoming has been identified in previous audits in a number of counties, she said.
The other significant finding concerned how clerks handle estates. Wood said there’s a timetable for a clerk to get an inventory of a deceased person’s possessions. When not done in a timely manner it raises the risk of someone improperly taking belongings. The activity can’t be detected without a property list to cross check.
Tardy collection of estate fees was another concern.
Cogburn defended clerks. Their duties are statutorily defined, not conducted capriciously, he said. They have a set of best practices imposed by their statewide conference and the AOC. Each clerk’s office voluntarily submits to “stringent and comprehensive internal audits” by the AOC, in addition to the audits by Wood’s office, Cogburn said.
Despite Wood’s concerns that overlapping duties among clerk staff raise the risk for financial mischief, Cogburn said clerks are authorized to permit such duty arrangements if the AOC approves.
Cogburn said clerks administering estates shouldn’t be saddled with the responsibility of other people wrongfully taking property. And despite auditors’ findings about the lack of timely collection of estate fees, Cogburn said state law allows clerks to extend the period during which payments can be made.
Wood responded by doubling down on her message that state laws aren’t followed.
“If these laws are deemed to be inefficient or impossible to carry out, the North Carolina Conference of Clerks should seek to change them,” Wood told CJ.
She said she has seen first-hand the pride clerks take in their work. She said many clerks are model public servants who routinely receive clean audits.
“However, that does not change the fact that the Office of State Auditor is writing many of the same findings year after year, often without corrections by Clerks’ Offices. We have encountered both a lack of resources, and, more concerning, a lack of will to make these changes,” Wood said.
Even though clerks might be subject to other audits, Wood said, she has seen insufficient enforcement of AOC requirements that protect taxpayers by addressing basic issues of risk and compliance with the law. She believes progress is being made under Warren’s leadership.