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State auditor: staff rebuilt, new whistleblower power used to open municipal audits
Summary
State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick told the House appropriations committee his office has rebuilt staffing and begun using newly granted whistleblower authority to start municipal audits, including an audit of the city of Arnold and additional work in St. Louis County and Jackson County.
State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick told the House Appropriations Committee that his office has added auditors and begun exercising new statutory authority to initiate audits after whistleblower investigations.
Fitzpatrick, who introduced himself at the hearing by saying, “I'm Scott Fitzpatrick. I'm the state auditor,” said the office increased staff from about 89 to roughly 115 after a pandemic-era surge in federal funding and related audit work.
The auditor said the new authority from House Bill 21‑11 lets his office begin audits after an investigation finds a complaint credible, without requiring a citizen petition or an invitation from the audited local government. “So 21‑11 gave us the ability to…begin an audit on our own,” Fitzpatrick said, and he…
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