Aurora’s Municipal Court says it is working to implement changes recommended by a city auditor who warned of possible fraud and potentially mishandled sex offender registrations stemming from problems within the court’s system for handling cash.
The Office of Internal Audit wrote in a March report that it could not “provide any assurance” about whether cash and receipts processed by the court were being protected against loss and misuse due to a lack of documentation and oversight.
“While we cannot conclude if fraudulent activity occurred, the combination of the issues identified and a lack of controls indicates a higher risk for fraud,” the office wrote.
The 18-page report also noted that the office could not confirm whether the court had processed all recent sex offender registrations, since receipts weren’t issued when defendants registered with the court’s detention division or posted bond.
Court employees mostly agreed with the recommendations made by the auditor, according to the report, and changes to the court’s accounting policies and other practices were scheduled to be implemented between April and December.
When asked whether any instances of loss, misuse, fraud or unprocessed sex offender registrations have been identified since the release of the report, Court Administrator Candace Atkinson said in a statement this month that the city did not “have anything else specific to add at this stage.”
“Our department has completed many of the recommendations in the audit report,” Atkinson said. “We continue to work through remaining recommendations.”
Outdated recordkeeping systems and understaffing in the Aurora Municipal Court were previously identified in a 2024 report by the National Center for State Courts as impacting case management.
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