Missouri auditor agrees to help settle spat between Frank White and legislators

Missouri's state auditor agreed Wednesday to review Jackson County's finances and procurement practices at the request of the county legislature.

County Executive Frnak White initially requested the audit back in January, after he and the legislature finished what was for the second year in a row a contentious budgeting process. But under state law only the legislature has the authority to ask the auditor to conduct a comprehensive review.

Auditor Nicole Galloway said her review will begin "later this year," but gave no schedule for when that might be or when the audit might be completed.

In asking for her help back in February, legislators listed a number of concerns with White's management of the county's money. Those issues included what the legislature believed to be improper fund transfers, such as using money that had been budgeted for one thing to pay for something else.

Another criticism was that White's administration had authorized dozens of contracts for professional services without putting them out for competitive bid. Payments for some of those services had ballooned over time without legislative approval.

For instance, the county initially agreed in 2016 to pay Graves Garrett LLC. 's $30,000 for legal work related to sexual assaults at the Jackson County Detention Center that year. The law firm was ultimately paid $188,100 after contract extensions without approval from the legislature as of 2017 and got $25,000 under a separate contract, the legislature said.

Legislators' concerns will be the jumping off point for the audit, but the full scope will be determined after her staff has done a preliminary assessment.

"My audit will objectively examine the concerns brought forward by county officials and provide a full accounting of how taxpayer dollars are managed," she said in a prepared statement. "The independent review will examine whether the county is operating efficiently, effectively and in a way that best serves the citizens of Jackson County."

White issued a statement Wednesday thanking Galloway for stepping in to help settle some of the arguments that he and the legislature have had since he took office in January 2016.

"It is our duty to hold ourselves, our policies and our practices up to the light, and if issues are discovered, it is our job to fix them," he said. "More importantly, taxpayers deserve to know that we are being responsible stewards of their dollars."

This story was originally published April 11, 2018 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Missouri auditor agrees to help settle spat between Frank White and legislators."