REPORT DIGEST

ILLINOIS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION
AUTHORITY

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2019

Release Date:  March 10, 2020

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  10

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 4 -- 4
Category 2:  3 -- 3 -- 6
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  3 -- 7 -- 10

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 10

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or a
qualification on compliance with State laws
and regulations (material noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are significant
deficiencies in internal control and
noncompliance with State laws and regulations.
Category 3: Findings that have no internal
control issues but are in noncompliance with
State laws and regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park
Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL
62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are also
available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

SYNOPSIS

• (19-01) The Authority failed to conduct
adequate site visit monitoring of its grantees
in accordance with its Federal and State
Grants Unit’s Policies and Procedures.
• (19-02) The Authority failed to prepare and
maintain adequate documentation supporting its
administrative and fiscal operations.
• (19-03) The Authority did not exercise
adequate controls over the monitoring of grant
agreements under its purview.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FAILURE TO CONDUCT ADEQUATE SITE VISIT
MONITORING OF GRANTEES

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information
Authority (Authority) failed to conduct
adequate site visit monitoring of its grantees
in accordance with its Federal and State
Grants Unit’s Policies and Procedures (FSGU
P&P) during the examination period.

Specifically, we noted the following
deficiencies:

• The Authority did not conduct site visits
for 30 of the 78 programs (38%).
• The Authority did not perform site visits
for the five equipment grants issued (100%)
during the examination period.
• The Authority did not perform site visits
for 7 of 11 grant agreements tested (64%)
which required site visits be performed.
• Of the 36 programs which had a site visit
conducted timely by the Authority, we sampled
10 grants to determine if the Authority
performed the site visit as required by its
FSGU P&P. For all 10 grants selected (100%),
documentation of the site visit was considered
to be inadequate. (Finding 1, pages 10-13)

We recommended the Authority take immediate
action to adequately conduct and document the
site visits it performs during a State fiscal
year for the purposes of monitoring grantees
of the grant programs administered by the
Authority.

The Authority agreed with the recommendation
and stated it continues to improve its site
visit activities and would amend the FSGU
Policy and Procedure Manual to reflect
attainable site visit requirements, while
still ensuring sufficient oversight of
grantees and compliance with State and federal
site visit requirements.

GENERAL FAILURE TO PREPARE AND MAINTAIN
DOCUMENTATION

The Authority failed to prepare and maintain
adequate documentation supporting its
administrative and fiscal operations during
the examination period. As a result, we were
unable to determine if the Authority complied
with the applicable statutory regulations.

Some of the missing documentation we noted
were as follows:

• For 11 of 23 (48%) employees tested, the
Authority did not maintain employee deduction
forms for union dues, association dues and
other insurance deductions.
• For seven of 72 (10%) reconciliations
performed of the Monthly Appropriations Status
Report (SB01) to the Authority’s records, the
Authority did not document the date the
reconciliations were performed.
• For three of the 64 (5%) Monthly Cash Report
(SB05) reconciliations and all 144 (100%)
Monthly Revenue Status Report (SB04)
reconciliations, the Authority did not
document the date the reconciliations were
performed.
• For 4 of 60 (7%) grant agreements selected
for detail testing, we noted the grants’
progress reports required to be received by
the Authority were not dated. (Finding 2,
pages 14-16)

We recommended Authority management and staff
take immediate action to strengthen its
control over records maintenance for each area
in which a compliance requirement is present.

The Authority agreed with the recommendation
and stated it had initiated activities to
improve the preparation and maintenance of
documentation, including finalizing an agency
retention schedule in 2019.  The Authority
also stated it developed an internal working
group to revise and improve many of its forms
to better assist staff in the completion and
retention of required documents.

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER MONITORING GRANT
AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS

The Authority did not exercise adequate
controls over the monitoring of grant
agreements under its purview during the
examination period.

During our grant agreement detail testing of
60 grants, some of the deficiencies we noted
were as follows:

• Progress reports from the grantees were not
dated,
• Annual civil rights certifications were not
on file,
• Signed notice of awards were not on file,
• Addendums to subcontractor and subgrantee
agreements were not on file,
• Timekeeping procedures were not on file, and
• Grant agreements were signed by the
Authority and the grantee after the start of
the grant period. The grant agreements were
signed between 4 and 225 days late. (Finding
3, pages 17-21)


We recommended the Authority ensure all
reporting requirements are adhered to and
ensure grant agreements are approved prior to
the effective date of the agreement.

The Authority agreed with the recommendation
and stated it will continue to make efforts to
ensure grants are processed timely. The
Authority also stated it had revised the
timekeeping requirement of the grantee
contracts to better reflect the proper
documentation needed to ensure sufficient
oversight of grantees.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to inadequate
controls over expenditures and obligations,
noncompliance with the Gang Crime Witness
Protection Act of 2013, inadequate controls
over payroll file deductions, non-appointment
of members, failure to timely file FCIAA,
failure to comply with the State Employment
Records Act, and noncompliance with
contracting procedures.  We will review the
Authority’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations in our
next compliance examination

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a compliance
examination of the Authority for the two years
ended June 30, 2019, as required by the
Illinois State Auditing Act.  The accountants
qualified their report on State compliance for
Findings 2019-001 through 2019-004.  Except
for the noncompliance described in these
findings, the accountants stated the Authority
complied, in all material respects, with the
requirements described in the report.

This compliance examination was conducted by
E.C. Ortiz & Co., LLP.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance with
Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing
Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

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