49.35 Public assistance; supervisory functions of department.

(1)

(a) The department shall supervise the administration of programs under this subchapter and ch. 48 and of community-based juvenile delinquency-related programs under ch. 938. The department shall submit to the federal authorities state plans for the administration of programs under this subchapter and ch. 48 and of community-based juvenile delinquency-related programs under ch. 938 in such form and containing such information as the federal authorities require, and shall comply with all requirements prescribed to ensure their correctness.

(b) All records of the department and all county records relating to programs under this subchapter and ch. 48, community-based juvenile delinquency-related programs under ch. 938, and aid under s. 49.18, 1971 stats., s. 49.20, 1971 stats., and s. 49.61, 1971 stats., as affected by chapter 90, laws of 1973, shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by authorized representatives of the federal government. Notwithstanding ss. 48.396 (2) and 938.396 (2), all county records relating to the administration of the services and public assistance specified in this paragraph shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by authorized representatives of the department.

(bm) All records of the department relating to aid provided under s. 49.19 are open to inspection at reasonable hours by members of the legislature who require the information contained in the records in pursuit of a specific state legislative purpose. All records of any county relating to aid provided under s. 49.19 are open to inspection at reasonable hours by members of the board of supervisors of the county or the governing body of a city, village or town located in the county who require the information contained in the records in pursuit of a specific county or municipal legislative purpose. The right to records access provided by this paragraph does not apply if access is prohibited by federal law or regulation or if this state is required to prohibit such access as a condition precedent to participation in a federal program in which this state participates.

(c) The department may at any time audit all county records relating to the administration of the services and public assistance specified in this section and may at any time conduct administrative reviews of county departments under ss. 46.215, 46.22 and 46.23. If the department conducts such an audit or administrative review in a county, the department shall furnish a copy of the audit or administrative review report to the chairperson of the county board of supervisors and the county clerk in a county with a single-county department or to the county boards of supervisors and the county clerks in counties with a multicounty department, and to the director of the county department under s. 46.215, 46.22 or 46.23.

(2) The county administration of all laws relating to programs under this subchapter and ch. 48 and to community-based juvenile delinquency-related programs under ch. 938 shall be vested in the officers and agencies designated in the statutes.

History: 1995 a. 27; 2005 a. 344; 2007 a. 20; 2015 a. 55.