In March, three auditors from the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor camped out in the Beaufort County Courthouse for nearly a month. They worked out of a courthouse break room; their role, to determine whether the Beaufort County Clerk of Superior Court’s office was in compliance with state practice.

“They’re trying to identify improvements needed — how we do things and making sure that we’re following the proper procedures and doing things correctly,” said Marty Paramore, Clerk of Superior Court.

The audits that take place across the state are random. The last one in Beaufort County took place just months after Paramore was first elected to office nearly eight years ago.

“They’re completely random. We never know when they’re coming,” Paramore said.

What state auditors found in Beaufort County was “no deficiencies in internal control and/or instances of noncompliance that are considered reportable.”

The audit scope covered the period between July 1, 2013 and Feb. 28, 2014. According to the report, the Clerk’s Office transferred $112,137 of abandoned property to the State Treasurer; collected $9,911 in estate fees; and $481,012 in traffic infraction-related costs.

Some nearby counties haven’t been so successful in recent audits: Duplin County was cited for employees having access to the head cashiering functions and automated criminal/infraction system not necessary to their jobs in 2012; in 2006, an audit revealed that the bookkeeper was only person involved in the cash-disbursement process — which includes entering payment authorizations, setting up amounts to be dispersed and access to blank checks — and operated with no oversight. Both infractions could potentially lead to an abuse of power or theft by an employee.

Many people believe that the Clerk of Superior Court Office is simply responsible for keeping records, but it’s not that simple, according to Paramore. In addition to records, the Clerk of Court is responsible for many more tasks: conducting hearings to appoint guardians, to declare incompetency, to decide whether a mortgage should be foreclosed upon; filing, processing, indexing and maintaining every paper filed in the criminal courts; receiving and disbursing millions of dollars in court fees, traffic citations and other fines; and managing the money of the estates of minors and those declared incompetent, among others.

Though Paramore and the staff of the Clerk’s Office were confident going in to the audit, he said he’s pleased to have the results in writing.

“All you want is to have a good audit on your watch, to show people that we’re doing a good job,” Paramore said.