INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSNewport News, Virginia
Audit Newport NewsTransparency · Due process · Accountability
Tips
All case files

Active · Investigation · Reviewed October 9, 2026

Circuit Court Clerk billing corrections

Follow the APA’s sampled billing findings and the Clerk’s redacted response, then look for evidence that corrections and review procedures worked.

Overview

This case connects the Auditor of Public Accounts’ review of Circuit Court Clerk financial operations for April 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 with the retained corrective-action release. It distinguishes the auditor’s sample findings, the Clerk’s response and the separate evidence needed to verify corrections and prevention of repeat errors.

Source notes

APA’s amounts are actual errors within its tested sample, not estimates of all transactions. The review also notes corrective action on a prior finding not repeated in the report. This case does not establish fraud, the present error rate or that the reported corrections failed. Private identifiers in the complete release remain redacted.

Documents (7)

Search this case’s document text

7 of 7 reviewed records. Source links and release indexes are identified separately from archived copies.

Timeline

Dates follow the cited records; document dates are labeled separately.

  1. October 10, 2025

    APA report identifies errors in its sample

    The report dated October 10 finds court-cost assessment or billing errors in 16 of 56 cases tested: $3,549 not charged in 11 cases, $798 overcharged in three cases, and $191 in attorney fees miscoded and not billed to the locality in two cases. APA expressly says it did not project those sampled errors to all court transactions. The court-cost finding is marked as a repeat first issued in 2020.

  2. May 14, 2026

    Request seeks correction and implementation records

    The Clerk’s response quotes a May 14 request for corrective-action documents, records showing corrections to the 16 sampled cases, updated procedures or training and communications with APA. The request identifies what evidence was sought; it does not establish that a correction was made.

  3. May 26, 2026

    Clerk responds with a corrective-action packet

    The response identifies enclosed corrective-action materials and states that records are sufficient to show the 16 cases were corrected. The retained public packet has been reviewed and redacted for publication. The office’s response is evidence of its explanation and release, rather than an independent APA validation of every correction.

News story

No resulting news story is currently linked and published.

Related content

No related items have been published yet.

Open questions

Records still needed (3)

  • Verify the sampled corrections

    A de-identified reconciliation of the 16 sampled cases showing corrected charges, refunds or credits, locality billing and dates, with supporting accounting evidence.

    Likely custodian: Circuit Court Clerk and relevant accounting offices

    The release says corrections were made; a reconciled account would show the disposition of each sampled error without exposing private case information.

    Submit this record

  • Document the continuing review process

    Implemented cost-assessment checklists, review procedures, dated training records and later quality-control results, with any private employee or case information removed.

    Likely custodian: Circuit Court Clerk

    A corrective-action plan needs implementation and subsequent checks to demonstrate its effect.

    Submit this record

  • Independent follow-up and final versions

    Any subsequent final APA report or verification addressing the finding, with version dates that distinguish final reports from drafts included in the release.

    Likely custodian: Auditor of Public Accounts and Circuit Court Clerk

    The reviewed report says APA did not validate the corrective-action plan. Draft correspondence is not a replacement for a final independent finding.

    Submit this record