North Dakota state auditor surprised by legislative move to restrict authority

BISMARCK (FNS) — North Dakota’s state auditor said he was surprised by the Legislature’s last-minute move to restrict his ability to launch audits Thursday, April 25.

The budget bill for State Auditor Josh Gallion’s office requires that he receive lawmakers’ blessing to launch performance audits, which are different than the regular examinations of a state agency’s books. In recent years, performance audits have discovered an “inappropriate” use of state planes by the governor’s office as well as ethical and bookkeeping concerns with the state Department of Trust Lands.

Gallion, a Republican first elected in 2016, said the amendment was added earlier this week during a House-Senate conference committee in the session’s final days.

“It was a surprise to me,” he said. “It all happened very quickly.”

Read more: https://www.wahpetondailynews.com/news/north-dakota-state-auditor-surprised-by-legislative-move-to-restrict/article_f65af34c-6870-11e9-80ef-4b7f733bfba5.html