Essex County Division of the Superior Court Department

This is a state performance audit of the Essex County Division of the Superior Court Department covering July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013.

“This report details the audit objectives, scope, methodology, and conclusions for the audit period, July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2013.”

The auditor reviewed whether the court properly protected evidence and equipment, handled cash and bail, and dealt with unclaimed funds.

“This audit was undertaken to review certain aspects of ESC’s operations related to safeguarding of evidence, inventory of property and equipment, and management of cash and unclaimed funds.”

The audit matters because courts handle public money, court records, evidence, and funds that may belong to defendants or other people.

“We wanted to determine whether ESC had established adequate internal controls over these activities and complied with applicable laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and other authoritative guidance in the areas reviewed.”

For an ordinary citizen, the report says the court’s reviewed systems for handling money, evidence, bail, and property were working properly during the audit period.

“Based on our audit, we have concluded that ESC has established adequate controls and complied with applicable laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and other guidance in the areas reviewed.”

The bottom line is that the auditor found the Essex Superior Court passed the checks included in this audit.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

The report does not describe required fixes or corrective action, because it did not find significant deficiencies in the areas reviewed.

“We did not identify any significant deficiencies in those areas.”

The significance is limited but important: the audit gives public assurance about the specific areas tested, not every possible part of the court’s work.

“Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.”

“Bail” means security given to the court so a defendant can be released while still being required to return to court.

“Bail is the security given to the court by defendants or their sureties to obtain release and to ensure appearance in court, at a future date, on criminal matters.”