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SCHUYLER COUNTY MISSOURI -- UPDATED with statement released by Schuyler County Clerk, Commissioners and Prosecuting Attorney shown below:

December 14, 2011

While we understand and accept the report of the State Auditor with respect to the recent audit of Schuyler County, it is interesting to note that the Collector had passed at least four previous State Audits without detection of any problems by the auditor.  Further, in none of those audits was any suggestion made by the auditors that duties in the Collector’s office should be separated or that any additional oversight from the County Clerk or County Commissioners was needed.  New measures and procedures have been taken to protect Schuyler County from future problems such as this.

Sincerely,

Schuyler County Clerk
Schuyler County Commissioners
Schuyler County Prosecuting Attorney

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Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich has released the results of an audit of the Schuyler County Collector’s office. 

Longtime collector Kathy Roberts is facing both state and federal charges in connection with over $500,000 in missing money. 

In the audit, the overall performance of the collector’s office is rated as “poor”, saying a lack of oversight and failure to segregate duties allowed the missing money to go undetected. 

In their response, the county said the prosecutor is currently working with the local insurance company and the bonding company to recoup the lost money. The county added that it was difficult to detect that monies were missing due to false information reported to the county clerk's office. 

Currently the state case against former collector, Kathy Roberts, is awaiting the assignment of a new judge by the state Supreme Court. Meanwhile the federal case is set for trial next Monday. Roberts is facing one count of mail fraud in the federal case.

Schuyler audit 2011   Schuyler audit 2008