The County Auditor’s authority comes from the County Charter, which is the county’s constitution, and from the County Code, which contains the county’s laws.
The Auditor’s three critical functions to support accountable government are protected in either the Charter or Code:
- Conducting performance audits
- Conducting ombudsperson investigations
- Conducting investigations into suspected fraud, waste, inefficiency, and abuse of position in county government
The County Charter states that the Auditor will:
- Conduct performance audits
- Conduct special studies to improve government
- Access information needed to fulfill Auditor’s duties
- Conduct ombudsperson investigations
- Appoint a Salary Commission every even year
- Develop a plan to apportion commissioner districts every 10 years
The County Code states that the Auditor agrees to:
- Conduct investigations into suspected fraud, waste, inefficiency, and abuse of position in county government
- Staff the Board of County Commissioners’ audit committee, which is for the county’s annual financial audit conducted by an external municipal auditor; serve as non-voting member on the committee