28-8-107. Auditing of state agencies; management audit committee; factors to be considered in audit reports.

(a) During every regular session the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of the Wyoming legislature shall each appoint five (5) members of their respective bodies to a management audit committee. Appointments to the committee by each presiding officer shall reflect as nearly as possible the percentage of the elected membership of the majority and minority parties of each house, provided that not more than four (4) members appointed by each presiding officer shall be from the same political party. The committee may appoint one (1) additional member of the legislature to this committee.

(b) The legislative service office, at the direction of the management audit committee, subject to management council budget priorities, and subject to general policies established by the legislature when in regular or special session, shall:

(i) Conduct audits of agencies which may include:

(A) Program evaluations;

(B) Performance audits;

(C) Analyses of policy alternatives;

(D) Audits of the accounts and operations of any agency or of any entity directly or indirectly receiving state funds;

(E) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 97, § 2.

(ii) Conduct post-audits to determine if specific recommendations and problems revealed by a first audit have been corrected.

(c) The legislative service office shall prepare a report of each audit conducted and submit a copy of the audit report to the agency being reviewed for comment. The agency has fifteen (15) days, unless otherwise authorized by the committee, to submit a written response to the report to the legislative service office. The completed audit report, which includes the agency response, if any, shall be transmitted to the management audit committee for review and discussion with the agency officials and the legislative auditors. This review and discussion of the audit report shall be conducted by the committee in executive session. Following review the audit report may be released unless the committee requests the legislative service office to obtain supplemental information. A copy of the completed report and any supplemental information shall be distributed to the governor and each member of the legislature.

(d) The contents of the audit report, its findings and documentation are confidential and shall not be disclosed by any member of the management audit committee or employee of the legislative service office or agency being audited until the completed audit report is released, but the committee may discuss the contents of the audit report with the governor before release of the final report. The chairman of the management audit committee and the director may disclose and discuss any report made pursuant to W.S. 28-8-108(c) with the governor regardless of the status of the audit report.

(e) Auditing standards adopted by the management audit committee and approved by the management council shall be used in conducting audits and shall follow industry best practices, program evaluation standards and performance audit standards. The audit shall consider:

(i) Whether the funds which have been appropriated or otherwise allotted by the legislature to the various state agencies have been expended in accordance with legislative intent;

(ii) Whether administrative programs are being conducted according to legislative intent;

(iii) Whether funds and properties handled by an agency or held in trust have been properly administered;

(iv) That reports and financial statements by the agency disclose fully the nature and scope of the activities conducted and provide a proper basis for evaluating the agency's operations;

(v) Whether there is duplication or overlap of services;

(vi) Whether there are alternative means of achieving the same results;

(vii) Any other factors relating to the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of the agency being audited.

(f) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 97, § 2.

(g) As used in this section, "agency" means any state agency, division or department of any state agency, institution, council, board, commission or any other unit, subunit or program of state government.

(h) The management audit committee may exercise the subpoena power granted by W.S. 28-1-109(a) by unanimous request of the chairman and vice-chairman or upon the request of a majority of the members of the committee.