CLAREMORE — By his own admission, Gary Jones has spent much of his adult life seeking to expand the accountability of elected officials and improving the delivery of government services.
Since taking over as Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector, Jones has been busy doing just that, most notably, in getting the state caught up on audit reports of Oklahoma counties.
“When I first took over (as state auditor) in 2010, we had only 10 counties (in Oklahoma) in compliance, with some counties not having been audited or inspected since 2005,” Jones told members of the Rotary Club of Claremore.
Jones was guest speaker at the Tuesday meeting.
“The problem with a county being out of compliance, aside from the obvious, is that once it’s out of compliance, it tends to stay out of compliance until it’s audited and the inconsistencies (of non-compliance) are brought to its attention.
“This being the case, when I took over (as state auditor), we had some counties in the state that had been out of compliance for three, four, five years or more,” he said. “Since that time, our office has done upwards of 150 audits, and Oklahoma now has 55 counties in compliance.”
However, getting caught up in audits was no easy task.
“When I first took over, I put a team together to gather information about exactly how far behind we were (in county audits and inspections),” he said. “We sat down and took a good hard look at how the state had gotten so far behind (in audits), and I can tell you that there were a few problems (then) at the auditor’s office.
“We also discovered was that for years, the state auditor’s office would prepare the financial statements for the counties and then audit them,” he said.
“I can tell you they usually found nothing or little wrong on the counties for whom they were preparing the financial statements.
“Now that changed, if you remember, with Enron, where the independent standards changed and said that one couldn’t audit one’s own work,” he said, “but the auditor’s offices were in transition (at that time) and many of the counties weren’t prepared to prepare their own financial statements.
“Subsequently, when the change came about and the counties would be audited and told our office couldn’t prepare their financial statements for them, we hit a roadblock, and things really slowed down and started getting behind,” he said.
“When we came into office, we had to sit down, look at what the problems were and address them to firstly, find out if we had counties which were out of compliance, and secondly, inform them of our findings, so that they could correct any issues of non-compliance.”
Jones said educating and training persons within the various counties and entities was instrumental in helping each learn to prepare their own financial statements.
“We’ve come a long way from where things were when we took over, but we’ve definitely made progress in the backlogs, and we’re even anticipating that by this time next year, we’ll be caught up (in audits),” he said.
“This will be the first time all counties have been up to date (in their audits) since anyone in my office can remember, and that’s certainly something of which we’re proud.”
Officials: Tsarnaev Friend Linked to Slaying
Obama:Sexual Assault Threatens Trust in Military
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Raw: Memorial Day Flags Placed at Arlington
New Wheelchair Lift Promises More Access
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
"Be Ready": NOAA Warns of Busy Hurricane Season
SeaWorld: Penguins Are Coolest Thing in Florida
