State fines Poth after municipal court audit

[Video below] Poth will pay a large fine to the Texas Comptroller’s office, after a state-conducted audit of the city’s municipal court.

An audit of court records showed that, due to poor accounting methods, the city owes the State of Texas $10,462.03 in back payments.

According to City Secretary Rose Huizar, the scope of the audit focused on 2020 through the present. Hilda Tejada served as municipal judge up until the current judge, Sara Canady, was appointed in May 2022 during a special city council session.

State statutes require courts to collect court costs and fees, a portion of which are required to be reported and remitted to the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

“They offered us an opportunity to disagree … but it was obvious that there were mistakes,” Mayor Chrystal Eckel told council members at their April 15 meeting. “There was very little to argue about. It could have been much worse.”

“Because there was no court clerk to go back and ask, it’s really difficult to figure out exactly what happened,” Canady told the council.

“[The previous judge] accepted cash much of the time,” Canady added. “It’s difficult to follow cash, and no good receipt records were kept. Now we only accept money orders, cashier’s checks, or online payments.”

Also during the meeting, council members:

•Approved to move forward with the city’s 2024 SealCoat project for the City Park, that will now include paving and striping of the parking lot; bids will be invited

•Approved to accept a letter of engagement with Leal & Carter, P.C., for annual audits

•Approved 2024-25 budget workshops for July 2 and Aug. 12.

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