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Galloway gives Sparta second lowest ranking in audit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Auditor Nicole Galloway released the findings of an audit on the municipal court of Sparta, a small town outside Springfield, and the results were less than flattering.

Galloway found that the court in Sparta improperly tracked its activities, if it tracked them at all, and does not meet the legal requirements for the monthly courts it submits to the city government. The reports sometimes lacked basic information, like the court costs, the fine imposed and even the name of the defendant. The court also failed to track minor traffic violations,

“Our team found that, too often, court files were incomplete, and records were missing important information,” Galloway said. “If we want Missourians to respect and feel confident in our court system, they need to know it’s a system they can trust.”

Another finding was that all of the employees that used court computers shared one single user ID and password on those computers, which makes the system much more prone to cybersecurity attacks.

An audit of the city government is also underway.

The findings resulted in a “fair” rating from Galloway, which is just a step above “poor,” the lowest rating the auditor’s office can give. The full audit can be read here.