For the purpose of more completely discharging the duties resting upon him or her and to discover the truth and to make his or her reports truthful in all matters handled by him or her, the state auditor is empowered to conduct hearings, to summon witnesses, to administer oaths, to take the testimony of such witnesses, and to compel the production, inspection, and copying of documentary evidence, including without limitation evidence in electronic form and documentary evidence that is confidential or not available to the general public, at such time and place as he or she may designate for the purpose of investigating and determining the conduct and record of the employees and officials of any department of the state government. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state auditor shall have access to inspect, compel production of, and copy confidential information in any form unless the law making such information confidential expressly refers to this Code section and qualifies or supersedes it in that particular instance. When the audit or special examination of the state auditor is concluded, the Department of Audits and Accounts shall redact, destroy, or return to the custodial agency all confidential information except that information which the state auditor determines is necessary to retain for audit purposes or to disclose for other public purposes. For audit purposes, the state auditor may retain such confidential information in working papers as is minimally necessary to support findings and to comply with generally accepted governmental auditing standards. The state auditor may also disclose confidential information to other officers independently entitled to its receipt, such as for law enforcement purposes. Except as stated above in this Code section, confidential information in the hands of the state auditor shall have the same confidential status as it does in the hands of the custodial entity, and the state auditor shall protect its confidentiality with at least the care and procedures by which it is protected by the custodial agency or substantially equivalent care and procedures.