Legislative auditors find weak controls, missing receipts in governor’s office; officials say fixes underway

The Legislative Audit Commission on Thursday heard a performance audit that found the governor and lieutenant governor’s office largely failed to follow internal‑control requirements, leaving the office at increased risk of waste or misappropriation.

"The office generally did not comply with the criteria we tested because of internal control deficiencies," Judy Randall, legislative auditor, told the commission as she introduced the report. The audit covered July 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2024.

Deputy Legislative Auditor Lori Lisonbee said auditors identified 12 findings across receipts, inventory, non‑payroll and payroll expenditures. She told commissioners that one employee had responsibility for purchasing, receiving, paying vendors and recording inventory, noting: "that individual can purchase an item, they can receive that item, they can pay for that item, then they will enter that item into inventory, and they can subsequently go ahead and remove that item for the inventory all without the oversight of anyone else." The auditors…