CHRISTIAN COUNTY, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – “I’m not here to make excuses,” said Christian County Judge Executive Jerry Gilliam during an open forum on May 11. During this meeting, residents were invited to ask questions regarding concerns about the recent audit that was released. Multiple findings were found in the audit, which covered the 2024-25 fiscal year that ended in June of 2025.
“The recent audit of Christian County identified several areas where procedures and reporting practices needed improvement,” said Gilliam. “While no finding involved fraud, missing funds, or misuse of taxpayer money, the audit did highlight some administrative compliance issues that we are taking seriously. The most important thing for our citizens to know is that audits are designed to identify weaknesses so governments can improve, and that process is working exactly as is intended.”
Background of audit, key things to know
The majority of concerns addressed during the forum stemmed from why repeat findings had not been addressed before, how these issues will be addressed in the future, and what led to making the mistakes.
“A finding is somewhat of a common occurrence. It does not mean there’s any money is missing, it does not mean there’s any fraudulent activity, it doesn’t even mean that there is any risk of fraud or misappropriation.”
- Out of the 55 fiscal courts that were audited in 2024, 44 of them had findings.
- Annual audits are required for Christian County and are conducted by state auditors.
- Since 2011, Christian County has only had two years where there were no findings.
- The county has 25,000 to 30,000 transactions that have to be documented and approved in a very specific way to avoid being flagged by an auditor.
Gilliam explained that recent growth in the county including the management of major projects and significant federal funding coupled growing operational demands led to these discrepancies.
Breakdown of county’s response to findings
The findings from the audit do not indicate misappropriation of funds, theft, fraud or missing money, instead they were a result of documentation discrepancies or approval processes being done out of order. Gilliam said, “Those issues have been identified and are now on a corrective action plan.”…