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The State Auditor
Article By: by
Texas State Rep. Larry Phillips
Posted: 10/12/2012 Views: 2557 Impressions: 8388
Categories: Government: State, Politics
Posted: 10/12/2012 Views: 2557 Impressions: 8388
Categories: Government: State, Politics
This week I would like to highlight a little-known, but important state agency: the State Auditor's Office (SAO). The State Auditor is charged with performing audits, reviews, and investigations of any entity receiving state funds. Mostly, these entities are state agencies. Types of audits the SAO performs include financial audits, compliance audits, economy and efficiency audits, effectiveness audits, and other special audits. The SAO may also perform reviews, which are less rigorous than audits, but provide a certain degree of assurance to decision makers. Investigations are performed whenever there is evidence of fraud or abuse of state resources. In addition, the SAO coordinates and provides continuing education for audit and accounting professionals.
In 1929, the legislature created the first "State Auditor and Efficiency Expert" position, which was a branch under the governor's office. The State Auditor and Efficiency Expert was authorized to inspect all books and records of all the officers, departments, and institutions of state government, and to examine departments for duplication of efforts and efficiency of employees.The legislature moved the state auditor's office to the legislative branch in 1943, and formed the Legislative Audit Committee, which still consists of six members of the legislature: the Lt. Governor, the Speaker of the House; and two members from each legislative body. The work and activities performed by the SAO are included in an annual audit plan, which is approved by the Legislative Audit Committee and specifies which entities are to be audited in a specified year.
By law, the person appointed as the State Auditor must be a certified public accountant, and all audits conducted by the office must be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards as prescribed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or the United States General Accounting Office. In addition, the State Auditor is required to develop an audit plan for each fiscal year. The current state auditor is John Keel.
This year, the State Auditor's Office has issued dozens of reports on various entities within state government. To view these reports, or for more information on the State Auditor's Office, you can visit the website www.sao.state.tx.us. You can also contact my office by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by emailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us. My district office phone number is (903) 891-7297.
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