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Report no. 13391 -
State of Florida Auditor General
Operational Audit Of the Board of County Commissioners
and the Clerk of the Circuit Court Walton County, Florida for the period October 1, 1996,
through September 30, 1997, and selected actions taken prior and subsequent thereto.13391
State of Florida Auditor General Operational Audit Of the Board of County Commissioners
and the Clerk of the Circuit Court Walton County, Florida for the period October 1, 1996,
through September 30, 1997, and selected actions taken prior and subsequent thereto. Board
of County Commissioners and the Clerk of the Circuit Court Walton County, Florida
STATE OF FLORIDA AUDITOR GENERAL TALLAHASSEE
February 11, 1999
The President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
Legislative Auditing Committee Pursuant to the provisions of Section 11.45, Florida
Statutes, and as part of the Legislature’s oversight responsibility for operations of
local governmental entities, I have directed that an operational audit be made of the BOARD
OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT WALTON COUNTY, FLORIDA, For the
Period October 1, 1996, Through September 30, 1997, and Selected Actions Taken Prior and
Subsequent Thereto.
The results of the audit of the Board of County Commissioners and the Clerk of the
Circuit Court, Walton County, Florida, are presented herewith.
Respectfully submitted, Charles L. Lester - Auditor General
Audit supervised by: Ted J. Sauerbeck
Audit made by: Daniel P. Owens
CHARLES L. LESTER, CPA AUDITOR GENERAL - OPERATIONAL
AUDIT OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT WALTON
COUNTY, FLORIDA
For the Period October 1, 1996, Through September 30, 1997, and Selected Actions Taken
Prior and Subsequent Thereto
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AUDIT REPORT SUMMARY
This audit report summary highlights the scope,
objectives, methodology, and findings of audit report No. 13391. It is intended to present
the findings of our report in a condensed fashion. The entire audit report should be read
for a comprehensive understanding of our audit findings.
SCOPE/OBJECTIVES
The Auditor General, as part of the Legislature’s oversight responsibility for
operations of local governmental entities, makes operational audits to evaluate
management’s performance in administering assigned responsibilities in accordance
with applicable laws, ordinances, and other guidelines and to determine the extent to
which the internal control, as designed and placed in operation, promotes and encourages
the achievement of management’s control objectives in the categories of compliance,
economic and efficient operations, reliability of financial records and reports, and
safeguarding of assets. Walton County, created by an act of the Legislative Council of the
Territory of Florida on December 29, 1824, is a non-charter county. As such, Walton
County’s officers consist of an elected five-member board of county commissioners and
five elected " constitutional" officers: clerk of the circuit court, property
appraiser, sheriff, supervisor of elections, and tax collector. Walton County, which is
located in Northwest Florida, extends from the Florida-Alabama border on the north to the
Gulf of Mexico on the south and is bordered by Okaloosa County on the west and Holmes,
Washington, and Bay Counties on the east..
The scope of this audit included the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC)
and Clerk of the Circuit Court (Clerk). The BCC and the Clerk have been assigned
responsibilities by law for performing numerous functions and duties, as described in the BACKGROUND section
of this report. The audit focused primarily on those operating units, programs,
activities, functions, and classes of transactions relating to the revenues, expenditures,
and assets of the BCC and the Clerk for the period October 1, 1996, through September 30,
1997, and selected actions taken prior and subsequent thereto.
METHODOLOGY
We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and
applicable standards contained in Government Auditing Standards issued by
the Comptroller General of the United States.
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