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July 14, 2025
The Honorable Michael Stein
Chief Judge
City of Newport News General District Court
Audit Period: July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024
Court System: City of Newport News
Judicial District: Seventh
We are performing a statewide audit of the General District Courts. During our review of this
court, we conducted certain audit procedures, as we deemed appropriate.
Court management has responsibility for establishing and maintaining internal controls and
complying with applicable laws and regulations. Internal control is a process designed to provide
reasonable, but not absolute, assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness and
efficiency of operations, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Deficiencies in internal
controls could lead to noncompliance with laws and regulations, the loss of assets or revenues, or
otherwise compromise the Clerk’s fiscal accountability. During our review, we noted the following
matter requiring management’s attention and corrective action.
Properly Assess and Bill Court Costs
Repeat: No
The Clerk and the Clerk's staff did not properly assess and bill court costs. In 23 of 75 (31%) cases
tested, we noted the following errors.
• For ten cases, the Clerk did not certify court costs totaling $5,667 to the circuit court.
• The Clerk did not charge defendants in six cases a total of $2,225 in court costs.
• In two cases, the Clerk miscoded in the financial system court costs of $552 as local instead
of Commonwealth.
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