Media Center

For a second year, the State Auditor’s Office will be holding its free virtual audit conference on Wednesday, July 19th from 8:45 a.m. until 4 p.m. CT. The conference — called the Audit Summit — is geared towards providing training and helpful resources to local governments. Read more...

Auditors representing the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) gave the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office the highest possible rating in its peer review, referencing the office’s adherence to government auditing standards. Read more...

A recent state audit of the Solen Public School District has identified 19 different areas of concern. Read more...

Members of the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) have elected an Executive Committee to serve from now until June 2024. North Dakota State Auditor Joshua Gallion was elected to serve on this national committee with a team of six other individuals from across the country. Read more...

The financial threshold that would trigger an audit for local governments has been increased from $750,000 to $2,000,000. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office was honored with an Award of Excellence in the category of Technical or Statistical Report at the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Award ceremony. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a citizen-requested petition for an audit of the Bismarck Public School District. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has completed an audit of the federal funds given to North Dakota. Read more...

On April 30, 2021, state lawmakers passed House Bill 1004 which required the State Auditor’s Office to hire a third-party contractor to conduct a performance audit on the prescription drug coverage of NDPERS. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has completed an audit of Williston Public School District #1 for the year ended June 30, 2021, in Williams County and has found 21 different areas of concern. District #1 merged with District #8 on July 1, 2021, to create the current District #7. Read more...

This holiday season, the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office again challenged state agencies to a food collection competition for the second year in a row, benefitting two local food pantries. Read more...

The Auditor’s Office has released a review on the security of the election system for the State of North Dakota. Read more...

A recent audit of the Department of Health found several errors with storage and handling of COVID-19 vaccines. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has found that for the sixth straight year the Department of Human Services (DHS) is not adhering to their own policy of checking on children from reported abusive situations in the allowed timeframes. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office will be holding a press conference on the results of an audit of the Department of Human Services. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has named Dickey County as the recipient of its Stewardship Award for local government clients. Read more...

The Auditor’s Office has found that Mayville State University does not have correct training or procedures in place for running payroll for its employees. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office will be holding its first-ever audit conference offered virtually on Wednesday, August 31 from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The conference — an Audit Summit —  is geared towards providing training and helpful resources to local governments and is free to attend.

The State Auditor’s Office has found that the Gwinner Rural Fire Protection District used public funds to purchase alcohol and groceries for its staff and volunteers. From 2015 until 2020, $28,080 was spent on alcohol, groceries, and golf outings. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has identified three opportunities for improvement at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a citizen-requested petition for an audit of the City of Lincoln, located in Burleigh County.

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a citizen-requested petition for an audit of the City of Parshall located in Mountrail County. Read more...

An audit of the Williston Park District in Williams County has revealed an area of “going concern.” Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a citizen-requested petition for an audit of the Williston Public School District, located in Williams County. Read more...

An audit of the State Auditor’s Office has identified an opportunity for improvement. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has completed their audit of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has received a citizen-requested petition for an audit of the Lewis and Clark Public School District, located in Ward County. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has released a report of Stark County. Read more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has challenged elected officials from state offices to a food collection challenge to benefit people in need this holiday season. Read more...

An audit report of Mountrail County has found significant improvements from the prior audit, however six areas of concern were found in the most recent audit report. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has named the North Dakota Mill and Elevator Association as the recipient of its Stewardship Award. This award celebrates excellence in auditing and is given to entities the State Auditor’s Office has worked with conducting audits. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office is partnering with communities across the state to provide resources for local government entities including cities, counties, and municipalities. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office has released an audit of the North Dakota Highway Patrol which found that key card access to the State Capitol building is not being adequately monitored. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office’s Mineral Royalty Division has announced federal and state resources available to help citizens better understand where their state and federal tax dollars as well as revenue collections are going. See more...

An audit of the Attorney General’s Office found that 34 driving under the influence (DUI) tests were invalid and can be dismissed in a court of law. The tests reviewed by the State Auditor’s Office included 8,925 total tests during the two-year audit period which ended June 30, 2020. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office is working with a contractor to conduct a network security assessment of information technology (IT) resources within the State of North Dakota.

The State Auditor’s Office has released a report of the Parshall Public School District that identified 17 separate areas of concern.

The State Auditor’s Office released a report that found the Secretary of State’s Office had a difference of $75,211 from revenue generated through various citizen fees.

The financial threshold that local governments have been following is changing to be strictly revenue-based, and the amount that triggers an audit is increasing from $750,000 to two million. See more...

An audit report of Dickinson State University found that procurement documentation was missing for $334,705 of goods and services purchased. State law – as well as University policies and procedures – requires documentation for all items purchased. See more...

The Office of the State Auditor has released an audit of the Solen Public School District that identified 11 separate areas of concern. See more...

The National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) has recognized the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office in a virtual award ceremony. The office was awarded second place in the Electronic Publication category for their culture book. The NAGC Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awards recognize excellence in government communications. See more...

A recent audit of the Indian Affairs Commission has found that while areas of concern identified in a 2019 audit have been addressed, a new area of concern was identified. The operating budget for the Indian Affairs Commission was overspent by $2,859. The total allocation from the General Fund for operating expenses for the biennium was $263,704. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office has completed the Federal Single Audit for North Dakota. This audit is federally required to be conducted every other year. The purpose of the Single Audit is to review federal grants to check compliance with guidelines. Reviews on 24 different federal programs were conducted including areas such as Medicaid, public service programs, flood control, education, and transportation. See more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has launched a citizen-requested audit of the Parshall Public School District, located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in Mountrail County. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office has identified ten separate areas of concern in Mountrail County. The findings include budgeted interim fund balances that exceed the amount allowed by state law by $17.6 million. Additionally, there were concerns over estimated cash documentation in the annual budget, and failure to submit proper reports to the Tax Department. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office has completed their audit of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. This report — known as the ACFR — presents North Dakota‘s financial statements for the fiscal year 2020.

The State Auditor’s Office over the past two years has reviewed over $230 million in federal royalty and revenue payments made by energy companies during calendar years 2015 and 2016. These payments provide revenue to the State of North Dakota and the federal government. See more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has revealed its first-ever Stewardship Award. This award celebrates excellence in auditing and is given to entities the State Auditor’s Office has worked with conducting audits. The first award recipient for this recognition is the City of Devils Lake. See more...

Prairie Business has named Brianna Ludwig to its annual 40 Under 40 list. This list features 40 exceptional business professionals who are under the age of 40 in the North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota region. Read more...

The State Auditor’s Office has released an audit of Oberon Public School District that identified ten separate areas of concern. These included payments without any evidence of services, no documentation for federal grant funding, and no documentation retained surrounding the selection of a contractor for the new Oberon Public School building. See more...

The State Auditor’s Office has determined that — for the second year in a row — the North Dakota Soybean Council is not following procurement practices to acquire commodities and services. Marketing services for $192,000 were signed into contract without the Soybean Council seeking any additional bids or proposals. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Stark County that found that in the Stark County general fund and seven special revenue funds there were cash reserve balances totaling $33.6 million. According to state law, the maximum amount allowed in those funds is $10.3 million — which leaves a $23.3 million excess. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Department of Public Instruction that found that school districts are not given satisfactory guidance from DPI on how to record school bus transportation data used to calculate state aid. State aid transportation payments of $54 million were made to school districts during the audit period. See more...

Prairie Business Magazine has honored the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office on their 50 Best Places to Work list. Prairie Business received over 1,400 nominations from companies and organizations across the northern plains for this recognition. The criteria evaluated included workplace culture, opportunities for growth, benefits, and employee morale. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Valley City State University that found the University did not provide documentation showing competitive bidding for two transactions that happened in the July 2017-June 2019 timeframe. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Lake Region State College that found the College did not properly procure five transactions totaling $160,930 that happened in the July 2017-June 2019 timeframe. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of North Dakota State University that found the University is not monitoring the NDSU trademark royalty revenues properly and does not have a policy to in place regarding the distribution of the trademark royalty revenues. The audit also found faculty personnel files are incomplete and there is missing documentation related to large-scale construction projects that happened in the July 2017-June 2019 timeframe. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Williston State College that found the College continues to have a lack of internal controls surrounding cash and revenues and the College did not properly procure six transactions totaling $120,318 during the July 2017-June 2019 timeframe. See more...

The North Dakota State Auditor's Office has completed an audit of the ND Ag Experiment Station, NDSU Extension Services and Northern Crops Institute. 

Today, auditors representing the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) gave the North Dakota State Auditor’s Offices the highest possible rating in its third consecutive peer review, referencing the office’s adherence to government auditing standards. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Department of Agriculture that found the agency overspent $25,529 from the general fund. The agency received legislative approval to spend $50,000 of general funds as matching funds for the Waterbank Program. The agency interpreted the law as authorizing the ability to use the funds as match up to $50,000 of general fund salaries over the 9-year life of the Waterbank Program and, each biennium, interpreted that the remaining money was available to use for other general staff salaries. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that identified methods that could reduce the cost of collecting supervision fees and increase the collection rate of supervision fees. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Mayville State University which the university was not consistently following procurement rules, not retaining proper documentation or approval of student scholarships and room waivers, and inconsistent with their accounting practices, possible due to high turnover in the business office. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota State College of Science that found they did not ensure all faculty were receiving adequate evaluations as required by the State Board of Higher Education policy and North Dakota State College of Science policy and faculty members did not have the required personnel information included in their official personnel file, as required by state law.  See more...

The National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) has awarded the State Auditor’s Office a second-place award in the category of “Most Improved Publication” for their work on the State of North Dakota Biennial Report. The Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awards from the NAGC recognizes excellence in government communication products. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the State Water Commission that found they are not receiving and approving Emergency Action Plans or tracking dam operation plans as required by state law. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Department of Human Services, which shows that while the agency has made some progress since our 2017 audit, there is more work to do. See more...

State Auditor Gallion today released the following definition of annual receipts to mitigate any added burden to local governments who may receive federal disaster funding. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Belcourt Public Schools highlighting several opportunities for improvement that will require management to act for the betterment of the school district and those it serves. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Office of Management and Budget that found the agency is not properly following the alternate procurement process. This could lead to purchases being made that are not fair and in the best interest of the taxpayers of North Dakota. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Department of Health that found the agency was not keeping supporting documentation used to calculate Emergency Medical Services grant funding and due to spreadsheet errors, improperly distributed $39,995 in funds. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released a performance audit that looked at whether offering resident tuition rates to nonresident students would increase enrollment and what would be the financial impact. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released a state government-wide performance audit of North Dakota state agency fees, including the North Dakota University System. See more...

The State of North Dakota’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently completed the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (CAFR) for fiscal year 2019, which ended on June 30, 2019. The State Auditor’s Office audited the CAFR and issued our opinion, which is contained within the report. See more...

The North Dakota University System recently completed the Annual Financial Report (AFR) for the fiscal year 2019, which ended on June 30, 2019. The State Auditor’s Office audited the North Dakota University System’s AFR and issued its opinion, which is contained within the report. Our office compliments the University System on their hard work and professionalism completing this AFR. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit conducted by Eide Bailly LLP of the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office which shows the office has improperly listed three projects in the work in process balance. See more...

State Auditor Gallion today released the following statement after Truth in Accounting, a watchdog group, named North Dakota as one of the top states for providing the public with candid and transparent information about our government. North Dakota tied with Idaho and Nevada for the number one spot. See more...

The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has reissued the City of Williston audit. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota State Library that found the Library violated state law by inconsistently charging expenditures between different appropriation lines to avoid overspending in one line.  Once audit corrections were made, the Library had exceeded their operating expenses by over $16,000. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Soybean Council that found the agency did not properly bid three purchases in fiscal year 2019. See more...  

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Department of Commerce which shows the Department had violated state law by circumventing procurement requirements related to the “Be Legendary” logo and overall brand refresh. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Public Service Commission that found from January 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019, the agency did not have blanket bond coverage because controls were not in place to ensure renewal. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the University of North Dakota (UND) which shows that of the 31 faculty personnel files tested, all of them had required information that was either not performed or located elsewhere and four did not have annual evaluations performed. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota School of Deaf that found they did not comply with state procurement rules by failing to obtain bids on three purchases and did not maintain documentation of purchases. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Insurance Department highlighting the fire insurance premium tax which is paid for by citizens through their premiums. The audit shows that over the last eight years, $13.4 million was put into the general fund rather than going back to the fire districts because of a limit set by the state legislature. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Bismarck State College which shows from July 2017 through June 2018, the college was not maintaining required documents for granting tenure. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Minot State University which shows from July 2017 through June 2018, the university was unable to provide proof of an immunization tracking system, was not testing all high-risk international students for tuberculosis, and was circumventing the North Dakota University System procedure for students without proof of immunizations by allowing them to register for classes without immunization records. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of Dickinson State University which shows during the fiscal year 2018, the university entered into a contract for the management of the bookstore that could adversely impact the university’s revenues. In the first year of this eight-year contract, Dickinson State received zero revenue. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota University System Office which shows from July 2016 through June 2018, the information technology division of the NDUS, known as Core Technology Services (CTS), did not properly procure 5 of the 14 tested transactions totaling $3.2 million. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Dakota College at Bottineau which shows from July 2017 through June 2018, the college was not consistent in performing annual and student evaluations for faculty. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Information Technology Division which shows from July 2016 through June 2018, the agency was responsible for tracking 6,500 assets totaling more than $25 million dollars and failed to find 217 of those assets. See more...

State Auditor Gallion today released the following statement after reviewing the Attorney General’s opinion on the effects of SB2004. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota State Crime Lab which shows the agency has experienced significant workload increases while full-time staff have decreased since a 2018 reduction-in-force. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the North Dakota Highway Patrol which shows from July 2016 through June 2018, the agency was not following internal policies for school bus inspections, was inaccurately tracking the inspections and was not working off a complete list of vehicles to be inspected. See more...

State Auditor Gallion today released the following statement after the Governor’s signing of Senate Bill 2004, the appropriations bill for the State Auditor’s Office. See more...

A performance audit issued today by the North Dakota Office of the State Auditor shows that North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) has engaged in inappropriate activities surrounding the proposed Career Workforce Academy, is not meeting TrainND Southeast program goals and is overstating program results. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the City of Washburn highlighting several areas of concern including a potential violation of state law which requires the city to set up a separate fund for each special assessment project. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released an audit of the Indian Affairs Commission which shows from July 2016 through June 2018, the agency misspent state funds on gift cards totaling nearly $8,000.  See more...

The Single Audit of North Dakota for the fiscal years 2017 and 2018 resulted in 46 findings and recommendations related to many of the state’s key financial operations and the administration of federal programs. The Single Audit Report is required by both state and federal law as a condition of continued federal assistance. See more...

State Auditor Joshua Gallion today announced that his office has begun a citizen-requested audit of the Belcourt Public Schools, located on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Rolette County. See more...

A performance audit issued today by the North Dakota Office of the State Auditor shows that from Fall 2014 to Spring 2018, it is estimated the North Dakota University System (NDUS) could have eliminated 560 online course sections. See more...

A performance audit issued today by the North Dakota Office of the State Auditor shows that approximately $97 million in general fund resources were expended in the fiscal year 2018 when state agencies had special funds available to spend. See more...

Bismarck, N.D. – The North Dakota State Auditor’s Office has named Brian Johnson as Deputy State Auditor.  Johnson will assist in driving our agency towards its vision of a diverse team committed to generating greater value for taxpayers. See more...

A performance audit completed by the North Dakota Office of the State Auditor shows the North Dakota University System (NDUS) Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative has impacted nearly 15,000 students in 648 courses and saved students an estimated $1.1 to $2.4 million. See more...