More than a year after finding significant problems with the Ferguson, Mo., Municipal Court, a new report shows the city has made some progress in fixing a system that was in disarray, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Last year, state Auditor Nicole Galloway issued a stinging report that said boxes of court records had become moldy after a water leak. She found pervasive disorganization, a reluctance by local officials to cooperate with her staff and $26,000 in illegal fees, earning the court the state’s worst ranking. The audit also cited a lack of oversight that resulted in at least $1,400 in missing funds.
“My last audit discovered careless and disorganized records management that led to serious questions as to the ability of the court to effectively serve citizens,” Galloway said. “While there is still work that needs to be done, efforts are underway to address the audit findings and implement better processes moving forward.” While Ferguson has not pursued criminal prosecution or restitution for the missing money, officials have worked to implement new procedures to better prevent and detect loss or theft in the future, Galloway said. The city has been under intense scrutiny in the four years since an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a Ferguson police officer. Galloway said the problems in Ferguson weren’t very different from most of the 20 other courts she has audited since taking office, saying municipal courts statewide appear plagued with illegal procedures, poor transparency and weak records management.