10520-10536
GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 10520-10536
10520. The Auditor General shall only conduct audits and investigative audits approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Any provision of law directing the Auditor General to conduct an audit or investigative audit shall be deemed a request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to direct the Auditor General to undertake that audit or investigative audit. Once an audit or investigative audit is approved, the Auditor General shall complete the audit or investigative audit in a timely manner and in accordance with the "Standards for Audit of Governmental Organizations, Programs, Activities, and Functions" issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Immediately upon completion of an audit, the Auditor General shall transmit a copy of the audit report to each member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. 10521. The Auditor General, prior to his or her selection, shall possess a combination of education and experience which in the opinion of the Legislature is necessary to perform the duties of his or her office. 10522. The Auditor General shall be paid the salary fixed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and shall be repaid all actual expenses incurred or paid by him or her in the discharge of his or her duties. 10523. The Auditor General may employ and fix the compensation, in accordance with Section (4) of Article VII of the Constitution, of such professional assistants and clerical and other employees as he or she deems necessary for the effective conduct of the work under his or her charge. The Auditor General and his or her employees are legislative employees for purposes of Sections 20364, 11032, 11033, 11041, and 18990, and for purposes of the "Standards for Audit of Governmental Organizations, Programs, Activities, and Functions" issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. 10524. The permanent office of the Auditor General shall be in Sacramento, where he or she shall be provided with suitable and sufficient offices. When in his or her judgment the conduct of his or her work requires, he or she may maintain offices at other places in the state. 10525. The Auditor General shall not destroy any papers or memoranda used to support a completed audit sooner than three years after the audit report is released to the public. All books, papers, records, and correspondence of the Auditor General's office pertaining to its work are legislative records subject to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 9070) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 and shall be filed at any of the regularly maintained offices of the Auditor General, except that none of the following items shall be released to the public by the Auditor General or his or her employees: (a) Personal papers and correspondence of any person receiving assistance from the Auditor General when that person has requested in writing that his or her papers and correspondence be kept private and confidential. Those papers and correspondence shall become legislative records upon the order of the Auditor General or the Legislature or if the written request is withdrawn. (b) Papers, correspondence, or memoranda pertaining to any audit or investigation not completed, when in the judgment of the Auditor General, disclosure of those papers, correspondence, or memoranda will impede the audit or investigation. (c) Papers, correspondence, or memoranda pertaining to any audit or investigation which has been completed, which papers, correspondence, or memoranda are not used in support of any report resulting from the audit or investigation. The amendment of this section made at the 1981-82 Regular Session of the Legislature does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, the existing law. 10526. It is a misdemeanor for the Auditor General or any employee or former employee of the office to divulge or make known in any manner not expressly permitted by law to any person not employed by the Office of the Auditor General, any particulars of any record, document, or information the disclosure of which is restricted by law from release to the public. This prohibition is also applicable to any person or business entity which is contracting with or has contracted with the Auditor General and to the employees and former employees of that person or business entity or the employees of any state agency or public entity which has assisted the Auditor General in the course of any audit or investigative audit or which has been furnished a draft copy of any report for comment or review. 10527. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Auditor General during regular business hours shall have access to, and authority to examine and reproduce, any and all books, accounts, reports, vouchers, correspondence files, and other records, bank accounts, and money or other property, of any agency of the state, whether created by the Constitution or otherwise, and any public entity, including any city, county, and special district which receives state funds, and it shall be the duty of any officer or employee of any agency or entity, having those records or property in his or her possession or under his or her control, to permit access to, and examination and reproduction thereof, upon the request of the Auditor General or his or her authorized representative. (b) For the purposes of access to and examination and reproduction of the records and property described in subdivision (a), an authorized representative of the Auditor General is an employee or officer of the agency or public entity involved and is subject to any limitations on release of the information as may apply to an employee or officer of the agency or public entity. For the purpose of conducting any audit or investigation, the Auditor General or his or her authorized representative shall have access to the records and property of any public or private entity or person subject to review or regulation by the agency or public entity being audited or investigated to the same extent that employees or officers of that agency or public entity have access. No provision of law providing for confidentiality of any records or property shall prevent disclosure pursuant to subdivision (a), unless the provision specifically refers to and precludes access and examination and reproduction pursuant to subdivision (a). This subdivision does not apply to records compiled pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 10200). (c) Any officer or person who fails or refuses to permit access and examination and reproduction, as required by this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 10527.1. Where any specific statute bars the access of the Auditor General or the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to any record, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, by approval of a majority of the members of the committee, may authorize that the Auditor General and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee be granted access, with the right to examine and reproduce, to the records if that access is for the purpose of an audit authorized by the committee to the extent permitted by federal law. That authorization shall include safeguards to prohibit disclosure of any information which identifies by name or address any public social service recipient, or any other record which is protected by law. 10527.2. The Auditor General shall not have access to arrest records of the Department of Justice without the specific authorization of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Attorney General. It is the intent of this section that the Attorney General comply with such a request if it is clear that the information is an essential element of an approved audit and the information will not be used for commercial or political purposes. 10527.3. It shall be a misdemeanor for the Auditor General or any employee of the Auditor General, a member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee or any employee of the committee to release any information received pursuant to Section 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or Section 10527.1 or 10527.2 of this code, that is otherwise prohibited by law to be disclosed. 10527.4. Nothing in Section 10527.1, 10527.2 or 10527.3, nor any other provision of law shall limit the authority of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to subpoena records under the authority granted to the committee by the Constitution and the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly. 10528. The Auditor General shall make special audits and investigations, including performance audits, of any state agency whether created by the California Constitution or otherwise, and any public entity, including any city, county, and special district which receives state funds, as requested by the Legislature or any committee of the Legislature. 10533. The Auditor General, in connection with any audit or investigation conducted pursuant to this chapter, shall be deemed to be a department head for the purposes of Section 11189. 10535. (a) In connection with any audit or investigative audit approved pursuant to Section 10520, the Auditor General, or his or her designee, may do any of the following: (1) Administer oaths. (2) Certify to all official acts. (3) Issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, or documents, or for the making of oral or written sworn statements, in any investigative interview conducted as part of an audit or investigative audit. (b) Any subpoena issued under this section extends as process to all parts of the state and may be served by any person authorized to serve process of courts of record or by any person designated for that purpose by the Auditor General or his or her designee. The person serving this process may receive compensation as is allowed by the Auditor General or his or her designee, not to exceed the fees prescribed by law for similar service. 10536. (a) The superior court in the county in which any investigative interview is held under the direction of the Auditor General or his or her designee has jurisdiction to compel the attendance of witnesses, the making of oral or written sworn statements and the production of papers, books, accounts, and documents, as required by any subpoena issued by the Auditor General or his or her designee. (b) If any witness refuses to attend or testify or produce any papers required by the subpoena, the Auditor General or his or her designee may petition the superior court in the county in which the hearing is pending for an order compelling the person to attend and answer questions under penalty of perjury or produce the papers required by the subpoena before the person named in the subpoena. The petition shall set forth that: (1) Due notice of the time and place of attendance of the person or the production of the papers has been given. (2) The person has been subpoenaed in the manner prescribed in Section 10535. (3) The person has failed and refused to attend or produce the papers required by subpoena before the Auditor General or his or her designee as named in the subpoena, or has refused to answer questions propounded to him or her in the course of the investigative interview under penalty of perjury. (c) Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall enter an order directing the person to appear before the court at a specified time and place and then and there show cause why he or she has not attended, answered questions under penalty of perjury, or produced the papers as required. A copy of the order shall be served upon him or her. If it appears to the court that the subpoena was regularly issued by the Auditor General or his or her designee, the court shall enter an order that the person appear before the person named in the subpoena at the time and place fixed in the order and answer questions under penalty of perjury or produce the required papers. Upon failure to obey the order, the person shall be dealt with as for contempt of court.