Cameron County’s internal auditors presented exit audits for Justice of the Peace offices JP5.1 and JP5.3 on Tuesday, finding that announced cash counts reconciled but identifying weaknesses in fixed-asset tagging and disposal documentation.

Internal audits director Lizetta Laffa told the court the audits covered field work through late December 2024 and that the office holders and new elected officials have already reviewed the reports and agreed to begin implementing improvements. The audit found no overages or shortages during announced cash counts for the two offices.

The audit did identify issues with fixed assets. For JP5.1 auditors found one county vehicle lacked the county logo required by Cameron County’s vehicle-use policy and that certain assets did not have the county-issued asset ID tag the county’s fixed-asset manual requires. For JP5.3 auditors noted several items were not tagged or could not be verified in the inventory; one item had been disposed of but the required disposal form was not on file.

Laffa said the county’s fixed-asset manual requires an asset ID tag for all assets; the VIN can be used as a cross-reference but does not replace the system-generated asset ID tag. The audit report ranks findings and recommends that departments obtain required emblem/asset tags and follow established disposal procedures.

Commissioners acknowledged the report and moved to “acknowledge” the internal-audit exit reports. The court’s motion to acknowledge passed on a voice vote.

Lizetta Laffa: “All assets right now are fixed asset manuals, states that all assets have to have an asset ID tag. We do use the VIN number as a reference to tie back to that asset number. But the system itself does generate an asset ID, and our fixed asset policy manual does say that all assets, not excluding specific items, should be tagged.”