Report 2007-109 Recommendations

When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor's assessment of auditee's response based on our review of the supporting documentation.

Recommendations in Report 2007-109: DNA Identification Fund: Improvements Are Needed in Reporting Fund Revenues and Assessing and Distributing DNA Penalties, but Counties and Courts We Reviewed Have Properly Collected Penalties and Transferred Revenues to the State (Release Date: November 2007)

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Recommendations to Administrative Office of the Courts
Number Recommendation Status
5

To ensure that the distribution of payments for all fines, fees, and penalty assessments charged to offenders comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the AOC should do the following: Work with the Orange court to estimate the total dollar effect of the rounding errors in calculating the penalty assessment distribution to determine whether it will have a significant financial impact on the State. If the AOC determines that the impact will be significant, it should ensure that the Orange court makes the necessary modifications to the distributions calculated by its case management system. Further, as it proceeds with developing the statewide case management system, the AOC should ensure that the system correctly distributes payments to the appropriate funds in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Fully Implemented
6

To ensure that the distribution of payments for all fines, fees, and penalty assessments charged to offenders comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the AOC should do the following: Ensure that the Orange court reevaluates and makes necessary corrections to the distribution priority order programmed into its case management system.

Fully Implemented
7

To ensure that the distribution of payments for all fines, fees, and penalty assessments charged to offenders comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the AOC should do the following: Ensure that the Los Angeles court corrects any manual coding errors and strengthens internal controls over data entry.

Fully Implemented
8

To ensure that the distribution of payments for all fines, fees, and penalty assessments charged to offenders comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the AOC should do the following: Ensure that the Sacramento court continues its efforts to correct any overpayments made to the state DNA fund.

Fully Implemented
9

To ensure that the distribution of payments for all fines, fees, and penalty assessments charged to offenders comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the AOC should do the following: Contact the courts in the counties that did not report transferring to the State any money or only part of the money for the additional DNA penalty to determine whether they are appropriately assessing the penalty.

Fully Implemented
Recommendations to Controller's Office, State
Number Recommendation Status
10

The state controller should contact the auditor-controllers in the counties that did not report transferring to the State any money or only part of the money for the additional DNA penalty to ensure that counties and courts correctly assess, collect, and transfer the money to the State.

Fully Implemented
Recommendations to Justice, Department of
Number Recommendation Status
1

Because state law requires Justice to make county-reported data available on its Web site, Justice should do the following to ensure that the data on county DNA fund activities are accurate: Annually notify counties that they are statutorily required to submit reports on or before April 1 to the Legislature and Justice.

Fully Implemented
2

Because state law requires Justice to make county-reported data available on its Web site, Justice should do the following to ensure that the data on county DNA fund activities are accurate: Contact each county that does not submit an annual report by the deadline.

Fully Implemented
3

Because state law requires Justice to make county-reported data available on its Web site, Justice should do the following to ensure that the data on county DNA fund activities are accurate: Establish policies and procedures for posting the county data on its Web site.

Fully Implemented
4

Because state law requires Justice to make county-reported data available on its Web site, Justice should do the following to ensure that the data on county DNA fund activities are accurate: Clearly indicate on its Web site if a county failed to submit an annual report.

Fully Implemented


Print all recommendations and responses.