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Newport News Circuit Court Clerk
Seventh Judicial Circuit
2500 Washington Avenue — 1* floor
Newport News, VA 23607-4307
The Honorable Angela F. Reason, Clerk
Stacy C. White, Chief Deputy
September 13, 2024
VIA E-Mail:
Stacy A. Henshaw
Auditor of Public Accounts
101 North 14" Steet, 8" Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
‘Re: | Newport News Circuit Court
Audit Report for the period of April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024
Dear Ms. Henshaw:
| am in receipt of the final draft version of the audit report dated September 4, 2024, and
received on September 9, 2024. Accordingly, my response to your internal control finding report
and the corrective actions implemented include but are not limited to the following:
Properly Bill and Collect Court Fines and Costs:
While the collection of court costs and fines is indicated as a repeat finding, I am committed
to continually working with my staff to strengthen their ability in this regard; to included but not
limited to additional training through the Department of Judicial Services (DJS) as well as hands
on training and review from myself. In addition, | have reallocated staff responsibilities; to ensure
more focus and emphasis is given to this area.
While it is noted that there was an overcharge of $10 in one court case, that fee was entered
pursuant to a court order. Nonetheless, all of the matters reflected under this assessment have been
corrected resulting in a $0 loss to the Commonwealth, City, or defendants. Last year, all courtroom
clerks began conducting peer reviews and checks of their weekly dockets. In addition to this
procedure, a court costs and fines sheet will be utilized by each courtroom clerk and reviewed by
myself,.or office leadership on a weekly basis and after the conclusion of an applicable case.
To ensure the correct coding of cases; in regard to commonwealth v. locality, which are
typically cases received to Circuit Court from General District Court, the warrant and all associated
documents received will be reviewed for accuracy and/or consistency upon retrieval and prior to
inputting into the Circuit Court Case Management System. As a tool to ensure the correct coding
of a case was not inadvertently missed during the first review, all information will be validated a
second time when the file is transitioned to the courtroom clerk assigned to that case.
Main Office: (757) 926-8561 | Fax: (757) 926-8531
General Email Inquiries: ccourt@nnva.gov | Probate: probate@nnva.gov | Land Records: landrecords@nnva.gov
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