PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Recent allegations of financial deceptions in two state government departments are leading a panel of South Dakota lawmakers to recommend more resources that could help deter future scandals.
On Tuesday, members of the Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee unanimously urged Governor Kristi Noem to speed up getting all state agencies through an internal control process.
The Legislature eight years ago established the state Board of Internal Control at the suggestion of then-Governor Dennis Daugaard. Among the seven-member board’s responsibilities were establishing and maintaining financial guidelines for state agencies.
The board’s creation came in the wake of the state Department of Legislative Audit uncovering widespread misuse of federal Gear Up funds that were administered through the state Department of Education and the now-defunct Mid Central Educational Cooperative at Platte.
The board’s chair, state Finance Commissioner Jim Terwilliger, and his bureau’s statewide internal control officer, Allysen Kerr, met on Tuesday with the GOAC members. Nineteen state offices and departments have gone through the board’s review process, and completing the rest of state government could take at least another two years.