Report 2007-109 Recommendation 9 Responses

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)

Recommendation #9 To: Administrative Office of the Courts

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.

1-Year Agency Response

The AOC stated that it is committed to taking immediate, necessary steps to correct issues identified in any audit of the judicial branch. The Administrative Director of the Courts has requested that AOCs internal audit services unit ensure that its audit programs continue to cover the testing of distributions in each of their future audits. However, AOC indicated that with an audit cycle of approximately four years, it is possible that the internal audit services unit may not be able to review implementation of changes in distributions at individual courts in as timely a manner as it would prefer.

Finally, the AOC stated that it provides support to the courts regarding the implementation of new legislation and information about changes in assessments and distributions. This support helps the courts discharge their duties with respect to ensuring that distribution changes are made on an accurate and timely basis. (See 2009-406, p. 262)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2007-109

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.