Audit Finds Irregularities In New Leb Justice Court Finances

by Thaddeus Flint
An audit by the Office of the New York State Comptroller, which found irregularities in the financial operations of the New Lebanon Town Court, has been responded to by ex-Justice Darcy Poppey and ex-Town Supervisor Margaret Robertson.
[private]The December 2011 Comptroller’s report covers Justice Court operations in New Lebanon from January 1, 2008, to January 1, 2009. The report states that there were various problems found in the Court’s financial activities, including, “Internal controls over the Court’s financial activities are significantly deficient…adequate receipt records are not maintained, moneys are not deposited timely and intact…and unpaid fines are not routinely investigated.”
In the course of the audit the OSC identified $9,050 in funds which they felt were “unaccounted for.” These are DMV Disposed Cases – $4,865, Unpaid Tickets – $2,350, Confirmation Results – $845, Voided Receipts – $690 and Bail Moneys Not Deposited – $300
The issues addressed in the report have been referred to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct for further investigation.
The audit’s time period covers the terms of now ex-Judge Poppey and ex-Judge Shaun McHugh. As such, according to Robertson, the OSC was hardly being “fair and honest” when it conducted an exit interview only with Judge Poppey. “I was surprised and extremely disappointed to learn that Judge McHugh was not invited [to the exit interview)] since he was no longer a judge,” said Robertson. “If the Court audit had been conducted during Judge McHugh’s time as well as Judge Poppey’s, then it would stand to reason he should be there to explain areas OSC questioned. I for one certainly wanted clarification from both judges. Therefore, although the ‘missing’ $9,000 will be naturally attributed to Judge Poppey’s Court, it should not be, as there were two judges and two clerks involved,” wrote Robertson.
While the exit interview may have been seen as flawed, Poppey was still prepared and able to defend herself. “What I witnessed throughout the exit interview was nothing short of amazing,” said Robertson, “as Judge Poppey produced documentation to support their every claim and question.”
And yet, with the OSC’s latest report, Poppey is seemingly back where she started when she attended the exit interview in August. Poppey is not worried. “The audit clearly shows I have accounted for any funds they thought were an issue with my cases,” she stated. As for the missing $9,000, Poppey breaks the charges down case by case.
DMV Disposed Cases – $4,865
“I still have been given no written documentation to support that our Court disposed of these cases to DMV. That is a very big problem. Our records clearly show they were not disposed.”
Unpaid Tickets – $2,350
“ALL of the unpaid tickets belonged to McHugh and were managed by him and his Clerk Marianne Renfro.”
Confirmation Results – $845
“The confirmation results are all accounted for… I made OSC give me every single case so that I could see where their issues were, and surprise, surprise they were with McHugh and Renfro (with the exception of a few deposits that were late; this is not unusual). However, I could not answer for McHugh’s cases, and I did not.”
Voided Receipts – $690
“The $690 voided was an error, by Renfro, where she started to receipt the fine that was already paid when the litigant simply came in to purchase a copy of his record, which is only five dollars. I was aware of her mistake, and I signed off on it and told her she really needed to be more careful. This again, is not unusual. This particular litigant was paid back in 2005, and the Court records reflect that.”
Bail Moneys Not Deposited  – $300
“I cannot answer for (ex-Judge) Jack Never’s $300 bail that he took in.”
On December 30, Poppey filed an extremely detailed response to the OSC’s findings in a letter to the Chief Examiner, Christopher Ellis. Robertson, for one, has faith that all will be cleared up in the end. “If the matter has been referred to the Judicial Board of Review, then they will follow their own proper procedure, conduct an analysis and hopefully solve the mystery,” she said.
While Poppey awaits the Commission on Judicial Conduct she has a few other battles to fight in the meantime. Her case over the single ballot in November’s election that gave her Town Justice job back to Jack Nevers was decided by Acting Supreme Court Justice Robert Jacon on December 15 in Nevers’ favor. Poppey has not yet decided whether or not to appeal. In her eyes the entire balloting process in Columbia County is suspect. “The Board of Elections has violated many laws such as giving no written notice to candidates pursuant to statute, the many ballots that were missing, and, even worse, the Republican Commissioner certified four other races without deciding on ballots that were in question for these four districts. So it appears that the Republicans feel every vote counts so long as it is in their favor. I have filed a request for an audit of the County BOE by the State,” said Poppey.
Even turning over her Court to Nevers is a battle with the Town. Poppey had requested that a year-end audit be performed prior to her term ending. She also applied for reimbursement for vouchers for education from 2007 and 2008. “The Town Board has chosen to ignore both requests,” she said. Even with all the troubles she is currently facing as a result of being a public servant, Poppey remains upbeat when looking back. “I enjoyed serving my residents, and I know that I ran an efficient Court,” she said.[/private]