The state’s Legislative Audit Commission met on September 21, to discuss scathing audits of agencies and boards under the purview of Gov. JB Pritzker.
An audit of Pritzker’s Department of Corrections (DOC) found an extensive lack of proper record keeping that made it impossible to give a clear opinion on the Department’s financial statements, and a list of over 1,000 documents requested of the Department by the Auditor General for use in the audit that were never delivered or severely delayed. The DOC blamed both findings on staffing and COVID-19 challenges.
Similarly, an audit of the Governor’s Prison Review Board (PRB) also showed sloppy financial, contractual, property, and record keeping practices. Additionally, the audit found that the PRB, in conjunction with the DOC, failed to comply with the provisions of the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009. Specifically, the audit found the PRB and DOC failed to implement a required evidence-based programming system, did not provide mandated staff training, did not put a system in place to evaluate evidence-based practices, and did not file required annual reports. Because the Chair of the PRB did not attend the meeting, the Commission decided to continue their questioning of the PRB at their next meeting.
The Legislative Audit Commission is responsible for the oversight of the State Audit Program, review of the stewardship of public funds, and the monitoring action to correct weaknesses disclosed by the audits of state agencies. The membership consists of 12 legislators appointed by the General Assembly leadership and is equally apportioned between the two houses and political parties.