SELMA — Three city employees owe about $30,000 for municipal court receipts never deposited, says the Alabama Examiners of Public Accounts.

But those employees named in the audit report — Lynecia Steele, Zanetta Irby and Laura Stowers — have said they do not owe the money.

The municipal court collects court costs, fines and other receipts for cases under the court’s jurisdiction. Those amounts are sent to Selma City Hall for distribution to various state and local entities ordered by the court and according to state and local laws.

Mayor George Evans, council President Cecil Williamson and several other elected officials have been aware of this since a private meeting called by the state examiner’s office earlier this year.

The audit covers Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 10, 2009 or portions of two administrations, one during which James Perkins Jr. was mayor and the beginning of Evans’ term as mayor.

Evans did not return telephone calls Friday after the report’s release.

Williamson said he had received a report just this week and expects Evans to address the issue. The council meets in a work session Monday at 6 p.m. The regular Selma City Council meeting is Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“The state examiner has been working with these people trying to resolve the issue by asking them to pay the money, and none of them would do it. They say they were innocent and wouldn’t pay the money,” Williamson said.

The examiner’s report said the employees failed to show “just cause” why the charges should not be paid. “Therefore, relief is accordingly denied. The charges remaining due and unpaid, this report will be certified to the Attorney General for collection,” the report states.

Those employees cited in the report, the positions they held at the time of the audit and the amounts the examiner say they owe are Steele, city hall clerk, $14,925.50; Irby, assistant tax collector, $5,150; and Stowers, chief magistrate/court clerk, $9,659.10. The total amount owed is $29,734.60.

The municipal court clerk and chief magistrate is responsible for the daily operations of the municipal court, according to the audit report.

The audit, which was conducted in 2009, listed 12 findings where the city did not comply with state laws, rules or procedures.

Those exceptions listed by the state examiner included:

• The municipal court did not have a separate bank account named the Corrections Fund, as required by state law. Selma’s court receipts were deposited into the general fund with other funds.

• Cash bonds should be deposited into a separate bank account, which should be reconciled monthly. Cash bonds in Selma were deposited in the general fund with other court receipts. The state examiner found six cash bonds totaling $3,000 were receipted, but not included on the cash bond log sheet, which did not reflect the dispositions of cash bonds and the amounts on hand were not reconciled to the cash bond log sheet.

• Monthly payments to the state treasurer, Alabama Peace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund and Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission could not be traced to supporting records. The amounts on the receipts were more than the actual amounts paid to the agencies. The amounts due and overpaid were settled at the end of the examiner’s audit.

• From Oct. 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, amounts collected for the Alabama Peace Officer’s Annuity and Benefit Fund were paid within the required deadline of the 10th of every month.

• Restitution collected by the municipal court was deposited in the city’s general fund and recorded as a liability, but there was no subsidiary listing to support the balance of the liability account or to identify to whom the funds were due. Records were inadequate for examiners to determine an adequate balance.

• There were no controls over parking ticket books or parking tickets issued. The books were not logged out when issued to and returned by police officers. Police officers didn’t keep a ticket issue log to document the tickets issued. When parking tickets were turned in, the magistrate’s office did not keep tickets in an orderly manner. Because there were no controls, the examiner could not determine that all parking tickets and parking fines collected were properly accounted for.

• Court receipts were not deposited on time. The examiner says this is likely because the magistrate/court clerk did not turn receipts into the city hall in a timely manner and city hall held the receipts once they were received. “In one instance receipts issued by the court on June 4, 2009 and June 5, 2009, were indicated as being received by City Hall on June 10 2009. These receipts were not posted and deposited until Aug. 21, 2009. Due to the manner in which receipts and deposits were handled, examination procedures could not determine if receipts were deposited intact,” the report states.

• All receipts could not be accounted for properly. There were 85 skipped manual receipts and three computer-generated receipts not provided for review. Six computer-generated receipts were noted on the report as void, but the receipts were available for review. Manual receipts were not always in sequential order.

• The magistrate and other court workers who collect court costs, fines and other monies were not covered by surety bonds as required by state law.

• For some traffic and criminal cases reviewed, it was not always clear what the judge’s intentions were concerning the disposition of the case or if the judge’s intentions were carried out.

• Correct court costs and fines were not always collected for some cases.

• All receipts issued by the municipal court could not be traced to the city’s accounting records or to bank deposits. The examiner noted court receipts totaling $18,649.44 had not been posted to the accounting records or deposited in the bank account. Documentation on file in city hall indicates city hall received at least $13,270.50 of this amount.