Sometimes no news is good news and that's certainly the county's case when talking about their annual state audit.

This year's audit result, released in November, demonstrates more improvement in the functioning of the county.

"Everybody has been doing a good job, countywide," Director of the Office of Budgets and Accounts, Malinda White said.

That hasn't always been the case in Marshall County.

When White took over the position in October of 2014, the state audit for the 2013-14 fiscal year returned 20 different findings and recommendations.

After a full year on the job, the next year's audit for the 2014-15 financial year only found seven issues.

That number dropped again for 2015-16 with only one finding.

Auditors cited the office of the Clerk and Master and the Register of Deeds for not segregating duties in the offices sufficiently, a not uncommon issue in offices with small staffs.

Both departments have corrected the issues since the audit's release.

State law requires county governments be audited by the Comptrollers Office every year on their financial results and their compliance with internal control guidelines.

Not every county can manage the turnaround Marshall County has seen.

Within the last month the Comptrollers Office has released audits for Lake and Pickett Counties, criticizing their inability to get their houses in order.

Lake County, in far west Tennessee, has had more than 10 audit findings for three of the last four years running, many of the same issues occurring every year.

Pickett County has had at least 10 findings for the last seven years, nine of the 13 findings this year were uncorrected from last year's audit.

Marshall County has not only been improving as far as compliance with state guidelines, but in the budgeting process overall.

Her office has produced budgets each of the last two years in time for commission approval before the state mandated deadline. Previously the county had not passed a budget on time since the 1990s.

"It just makes for smoother transitions between fiscal years and enables better planning," she said.

The ability to plan better has had a positive impact on the county as well.

"The county is in good financial shape," White said, who also added that county government has laid the groundwork that should enable them to retire non-school related bond debt by 2019-20.

She noted that fund balances for county departments are, in general, increasing year-to-year.

Fund balances are carried over year to year and represent unassigned or unspent money in the budget. They serve the county as either a cushion for years where revenues don't meet expectations or as savings for larger, long-term projects.

White sees potential issues for next year's audit as new state-mandated internal control policies took effect in every department on July 1. Some findings could potentially result as people get used to the new guidelines, she thinks, but is comfortable with the county's current position.

"People aren't perfect, but we try to comply and do the best we can," White concluded.