COUNTY

OF NORTHAMPTON
INTER-DEPARTMENTCORRESPONDENCE


TO:

John Brown, County Executive

Louis Campos, Director of Administration
Victor Scomollio, County Solicitor

FROM:
Stephen J. Barron, Jr., Northampton County Controller


SUBJECT:
Internal Controls Over Finances in the Court Row Offices
DATE:
January 19, 2015


A recent memo from the courts, related to the staffing shortage in the court row
offices, have prompted me to speak out about this dangerously low staffing level
from a fiscal prospective.

Recent history tells us in these offices that the lack of internal controls can make our
assets vulnerable to theft from a county employee. The lesson from the $100,000
criminal division theft was clearly that segregation of duties and oversight is
important to protect the county from internal theft.

Lower staffing levels leads to less people to perform those internal controls. Policies
recently written are based on appropriate staffing levels to complete the various
steps of oversight. Without these being completed our county finances are at risk. I
am not aware of any immediate danger, but we need to be proactive and consider
fiscal duties and responsibilities while filling these positions along with all the due
process and access issues addressed by the courts.

This administration should also be well aware that the county relies on these
internal controls to protect us from external threats. People who reconcile bank
accounts, prepare checks and record deposits have caught several check schemes
perpetrated on the county from external forces. The prison has had to close and
open new accounts on several occasions. In the criminal division this happened as
well.

Without oversight we may not be made whole by out financial institution as we have
been in the past. This would mean all losses would have to be made up by our
insurance or worse yet the taxpayers of the county.

When considering the courts request to hire appropriately, I would implore you to
please also consider the fiscal needs of those departments to protect the county
assets that are controlled in those departments.