Galloway releases follow-up for Benton County Public Administrator after receiving rating of poor

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a follow-up report on the Benton County Public Administrator, whose office received the lowest possible rating of “poor” in a report issued on April.

Galloway said some issues included the appearance of conflicts of interest related to the public administrator’s family members providing services to wards in her care, as well as concerns with organization and timeliness.

“Conflicts of interest have no place in public office,” Galloway said. “I am encouraged by the Benton County public administrators’s attempts to implement my staff’s suggestions for protecting wards under the administrator’s care.”

Galloway said in April that she found the public administrator allowed the sale of a ward’s vehicle to her family business without the approval of a judge. The follow-up found the administrator now seeks the judge’s approval and an authorizing court order of any transactions.

Galloway also said steps were taken to correct deficient monitoring of ward’s financial activity, which previously caused 11 wards to incur bank overdraft fees.

The review also found annual settlement and status report filings are now submitted accurately and on time.

Galloway had found 10 areas of concern and eight recommendations were implemented, and progress was made on the other two.