Monday, State Auditor Stacey Pickering notified local government officials in the Towns of Tchula and Raleigh, City of Shaw, and Coahoma County to prepare to pay delinquent court assessment fees to the Mississippi Treasurer’s Office or face receiving a formal demand from the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor (OSA).
Court assessment fees are commonly collected in association with traffic violations and misdemeanor offenses, and are required by state law to be deposited with the State Treasurer on a monthly basis.
The Town of Tchula has collected but not appropriately deposited $68,556.42 in assessments. The Town of Raleigh has collected but not appropriately deposited $47,076.72. The City of Shaw has collected but not appropriately deposited $14,935.35. Coahoma County has collected but not appropriately deposited $18,668.27.
OSA is aware of many other municipal and county governments failing to properly deposit assessment fees and has been reviewing this process for approximately one year. During these reviews, over $350,000 has been identified and deposited. OSA anticipates hundreds of thousands more dollars to be properly submitted before the completion of the audit review process.
Formal demands have not been issued yet. Each entity has thirty days to properly submit the assessment funds to the Treasurer’s Office. If those funds have not been submitted in that timeframe, a formal demand will be issued.
State Auditor Stacey Pickering Press Release
3/13/2018
