Note to readers: This story has been updated to include a comment from Mayor Mike Purzycki's office and the value of tickets the clerk dismissed for other people.

A city of Wilmington employee used his access to the city's parking enforcement system to make dozens of his tickets — and tickets of other city employees and contractors — disappear, according to a city audit released this week.

The clerk, who resigned in November after his indiscretions were discovered, "abused his privileges" by suspending or dismissing 44 tickets against his personal vehicle and 65 tickets to other city employees or city contractors, the audit said. He avoided paying $1,860 in personal parking tickets, the audit said. Tickets he dismissed for others were worth $2,836 in city revenue, the city said.

"The way it was set up is that the person didn’t necessarily have to have approval [to dismiss the tickets]," said Acting City Auditor Tamara Thompson.

The audit did not name the employee or anyone else whose ticket was dismissed, but The News Journal learned it was Timothy Sheridan, son of former City Solicitor John Sheridan, the city's top lawyer under Mayor Jim Baker.

Timothy began working in the Finance Department as a temporary employee while his father was in office, John Sheridan said. The 33-year-old began working full-time in December 2015, according to his Facebook profile.

John Sheridan was unaware of the situation when contacted Tuesday morning.

"It does seem out of character," he said. "I just don't know much about this. It worries me."

John Sheridan indicated he was not involved with his son getting a job with the city.

"I don't think he needed my help. He was fully qualified, and he did a good job."

Timothy Sheridan's LinkedIn profile states he is a professional actor who has performed in local productions of "West Side Story," "Hello, Dolly!" and "Cabaret." Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

The incident, which occurred during the last administration, did not lead to criminal charges, said Wilmington police Sgt. Andrea Janvier. Had the situation occurred under Mayor Mike Purzycki, his office "would have considered whether to refer this matter to the (Attorney General's) office for review."

"If the AG’s office should decide to pursue this matter, we will cooperate fully," said John Rago, the mayor's deputy chief of staff for policy and communications. "As soon as our administration learned of the matter in January, we placed a manual control on the dismissal of tickets that required a supervisors review before action could be taken. That two-step review was formalized in June.”

As a clerk, Timothy Sheridan's job duties included the handling of ticket suspensions and dismissals. An apparent lack of internal controls allowed him to take advantage of that, the audit indicates.

There was no "formal written policy" concerning suspensions and dispositions. Finance management did not review voided tickets on a routine basis, and supporting documentation for suspended and dismissed tickets was not kept on file by the Finance Department.

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The Auditing Department started investigating after the Finance Department raised concerns. Sheridan admitted to using his computer access to forgive his own tickets but "did not admit" to doing the same for others, the audit said.

"Shortly after the unauthorized (dismissals) were discovered by Finance, the clerk resigned from his position," the audit states.

Sheridan's tickets were suspended and dismissed between one and 20 days after each violation occurred, the audit said. Tickets for others were suspended or dismissed sometimes on the same day as the violation or several years after the violation occurred, the audit said.

Thompson said she doesn't believe the city employees who benefitted from Sheridan's alleged wrongful ticket dismissals were colluding with him.

"I don't think most of them were even aware," she said. "It was so random. I don't think he was working with anyone. He just knew the person and got rid of it. ... It didn't seem like this person had a personal relationship with these people."

Notes were recorded in the city's system for each ticket but did not document who requested the change and did not detail a "clear justification," the report found.

The audit recommended that finance managers enhance documentation regarding who requests suspensions and dismissals and why.

Sheridan paid back the $1,860 for his own tickets in March, and the city is now pursuing collection for all tickets that were improperly suspended or dismissed, the audit said.

The Finance Department has since taken steps to prevent a similar situation from occurring again, according to the audit.

A new process, which started on June 30, requires "two levels" of approval for the suspension or dismissal of tickets, the audit said. All tickets requiring a void should be suspended for 30 days, in which time two supervisors will review them, the audit said.

Finance Director Patrick Carter, who took office in January, ordered a piece of software be developed to formalize the supervisor sign-off process for any ticket dismissal, Rago said. Those approvals must be done manually.

"And it must specify a reason, like a sign was posted or they had a permit and we issued a ticket in error," said Deputy Finance Director Stephanie Collins. "If that is a valid reason for that ticket to be suspended, not only do we look at the ticket but the person's name. If it’s OK for it to be dismissed, it will be dismissed."

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, cjedra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.