After further testing, marked as invalid, there was a typo in my local.cf as can be seen in my initial post. Thanks for your time.
** Changed in: spamassassin (Ubuntu) Status: Expired => Invalid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to spamassassin in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/702404 Title: cannot change scores in /etc/spamassassin/local.cf To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/spamassassin/+bug/702404/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs