The bill aims to clarify the responsibilities of state agencies regarding the inspection, examination, and reproduction of records for legislative audit purposes. It establishes that all state agencies have a duty to assist the legislative auditor whenever required and specifies that the auditor, or their designee, has the right to access and reproduce records in any format, including electronic data. Additionally, the bill emphasizes that audit materials are confidential until the audit report is presented to the Legislative Audit Committee, and it introduces penalties for officials who fail to comply with these requirements, categorizing such failures as official misconduct.

Key amendments include the introduction of a definition for "deidentified" information, which ensures that personally identifiable information is protected during audits. The bill also mandates that any plan claims records provided to the legislative auditor must be deidentified unless an individual claims audit is conducted by a third party. Furthermore, it clarifies that the examination or production of records does not waive any legal privileges and reinforces the confidentiality of audit working papers prior to the report's presentation. The bill is set to take effect immediately upon passage and approval.

Statutes affected:
SB0073_1.pdf: 5-13-309
SB0073_2.pdf: 5-13-309
SB0073_3.pdf: 5-13-309
Enrolled: 5-13-309
Amended: 5-13-309
Introduced: 5-13-309