Davis County scores "very low" on State Fraud Risk Assessment; controller flags two policy gaps

Davis County Controller Scott Parke told the Board of Davis County Commissioners on April 21 that the County scored 370 out of 395 points on the State Auditor’s Fraud Risk Assessment, placing it in the auditor’s “very low” fraud-risk category. Parke said the assessment will be signed by the commission chair and submitted to the State Auditor’s Office.

Parke said the County’s basic separation of duties and mitigating controls are strong, including a bank reconciliation process performed by staff outside the Treasurer’s office and system protections that limit when blank security check stock can be encoded. He said that blank check stock no longer displays routing or account numbers and that banks now require the treasurer to upload an approved list of checks before clearing, reducing that avenue of risk.

Parke identified two areas for improvement. First, the County lacks a formal written policy governing cash receipting and deposits; staff will implement such a policy soon. Second, the County will require an annual written commitment to a statement of ethical behavior from all county employees, not just elected officials and department heads — expanding current conflict-of-interest paperwork.

Commissioners had no further questions. Parke said the Chair will sign the completed questionnaire and the County will forward it to the State Auditor’s Office, as required for the annual audit.

Next steps: The Controller's Office will finalize the written cash receipting policy and implement the expanded annual ethical certification for employees; the signed assessment will be filed with the State Auditor.