Clerk of Court offers audit services to county school district
The Lee County Clerk of Courts has offered to audit the School District of Lee County’s operations, likely without charge.
With the school district moving from an appointive superintendent to one who is elected, Clerk of Court & Comptroller Kevin Karnes brought the concept forward for the school board’s consideration during its board meeting on Oct. 17.
“This is not a specific ask — a concept for your consideration. I am going to walk through this concept and you all can decide if it’s valuable for you all or not,” he said.
Karnes presented an organizational chart, where the superintendent’s office would be an elected position and the world of audits would be through a multi-layered strategy. He offered his office as a potential option for the board to consider.
“I might be able to provide assistance with fraud, waste and abuse,” Karnes said of the multi-layered approach to make sure entities are providing value in areas of specialty.
The approach was broken down into the entity and audit scope:
– Internal Auditor — performance and compliance
– External Auditor — financial statements
– RSM — special/complex
– Clerk’s Office — fraud, waste and abuse
“I really put this together to make sure the board has the proper checks and balances in place before the election. It’s a transparency tool for the citizens we serve. You are going through massive amounts of change to move quickly from superintendent’s office for a preemptory checks and balance,” he said. “It will allow us some time to work together on that change.”
Karnes said when they do an investigation at the Clerk’s Office, there are three likely outcomes for findings: substantiated, not substantiated and unfounded. He said there is a 10-day period where a certified inspector general is doing that review to make sure fraud, waste and abuse determination is made. If the answer is yes, the complaint is launched.
The report of waste, fraud and abuse would most likely go through the Clerk’s Office general hotline.
“I love moving waste, fraud and abuse outside of the district entirely,” Board Member Chris Patricca said. “You don’t need to worry about retaliation when you are reporting to someone completely independent from the district.”
Other board members also agreed that it would be beneficial to move waste, fraud and abuse audits to an outside entity, as it would provide a level of comfort for employees and the board.
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