Office of the Jury Commissioner

This is a follow-up audit of the Massachusetts Office of the Jury Commissioner, covering July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, we performed a follow-up audit of prior audit results at the Office of the Jury Commissioner (OJC) for the period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.”

Auditors checked whether the office had fixed earlier problems and reviewed controls over jury lists, data, consultants, and certain computer security areas.

“Our audit objectives were to (1) assess the adequacy of the OJC’s internal controls over the development of the Master Juror List, statistical data analysis, and selection and use of consultants for implementation of the jury management system and (2) follow up on the status of recommendations from our previous audit report (No. 2007-1216-3O), which covered the period July 1, 2005 through October 31, 2007).”

The office helps run the jury system for Massachusetts courts, including selecting, managing, and summoning jurors.

“The OJC is the judicial branch agency responsible for the random selection of potential jurors and the management and summonsing of all trial and grand jurors in the Commonwealth.”

If you are called for jury duty, this office’s systems affect notices, postponements, disqualifications, and other jury-service tasks.

“This website allows prospective jurors to confirm or postpone their service, request a hardship transfer or disqualification, complete a demographic survey, update their contact information, and complete and print confidential juror questionnaires.”

The office improved some past problem areas, but the Auditor still wanted stronger contractor oversight and better computer access controls.

“The OJC’s computer security controls need improvement.”

The Auditor recommended that court oversight officials and the Jury Commissioner’s office make an action plan, define needed services, and consider doing more work in-house or improving contract management.

“Specifically, the SJC, which has oversight of the OJC, and the AOTC, which provides funding for this project, should meet with OJC officials to develop an action plan on how to proceed.”

The concern was not just paperwork: weak account controls could leave jury-system information exposed to people who should no longer have access.

“The failure to deactivate user accounts in a timely manner may place the OJC at risk of unauthorized access or use of established privileges.”

A “time and materials” contract means the contractor is paid for hours and materials used, not for finishing clearly defined project milestones.

“A “time and materials” contract provides for payment based on payroll cost and materials used, whereas a “project” contract provides for payment based on the completion of certain tasks and established milestones.”