The state auditor’s office released a report this week showing that many agencies don’t have internal auditors even when the law requires them.
State law requires 11 state departments to have internal auditors, and a new report from the state auditor’s office says four of them do not – Agriculture, Commerce, Environmental Quality and Public Safety.
Dave Pulsipher, author of the report, says the cost of maintaining a full-time auditor may be part of the problem, but there’s an answer for that.
“We actually recommend in the audit report an economical way that state agencies can share internal auditors," Pulsipher tells KUER. "Some of the smaller agencies like Agriculture, Environmental Quality, the Labor Commission. So they can have access to internal auditors to improve the process of the organization.”
In other agencies, Pulsipher says officials with audit responsibilities also often have other management duties. He says sharing internal auditors could help resolve that conflict.
The legislature would have to change the law to allow some of the report’s recommendations to be implemented.