ST. PAUL – State Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, applauds today's ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court siding with multiple counties sued by State Auditor Rebecca Otto over the constitutionality of a provision allowing them to contract with private accounting firms to conduct their required audits.
“Some great news from the Supreme Court today as they ruled against State Auditor Rebecca Otto,” Swedinski said. “She was suing local counties and their ability to do their own audits and hire a private firm rather than having to use her office. We passed a bill two years back that allowed for this. Metro counties currently have the ability to contract private firms and we wanted counties throughout the state that are managed well to be able to do the exact same thing. Thankfully, we were able to be victorious in court to uphold local control when it comes to auditing practices.”
The provision at the center of the case was enacted into law as part of the 2015 State Government Finance Bill, which received significant bipartisan support and was signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton.
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