§518. Penalties

A.(1) Any auditee, local auditee, or public officer, employee, or other person of said auditee:

(a) Who neglects, fails or refuses, to furnish the legislative auditor with such papers, accounts, books, documents, films, tapes, and other forms of recordation, including but not limited to computer and recording devices, whether confidential or otherwise, that he has the right to inspect and examine, or

(b) Who shall deny him access to the office, or to papers, accounts, books, documents, films, tapes, and other forms of recordation, including but not limited to computer and recording devices, whether confidential or otherwise, that he has the right to inspect or examine, or

(c) Who refuses, fails, or neglects to transmit to the legislative auditor reports, statements of accounts or other documents upon request as provided by law or

(d) Who, otherwise in any manner, obstructs or impedes the legislative auditor in making the examination authorized by law shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned for not less than ten days, nor more than six months, or both.

(2) Any officer of an auditee or local auditee who violates any of the provisions of this Chapter shall, in addition to the above fines and penalties, be deemed guilty of malfeasance and gross misconduct in office, and shall be subject to removal.

B. Any director, officer, employee or agent of a corporation, cooperative association or partnership, or any other person:

(1) Who neglects, fails or refuses to furnish in a timely fashion to the auditee or local auditee or its representative such papers, accounts, books, documents, films, tapes, and other forms of recordation, including but not limited to computer and recording devices, whether confidential or otherwise, that the auditee has the right to inspect and examine, or

(2) Who shall deny the auditee or local auditee or its representative access to the office, or to papers, accounts, books, documents, films, tapes, and other forms of recordation, including but not limited to computer and recording devices, whether confidential or otherwise, that the auditee has the right to inspect or examine, or

(3) Who refuses, fails, or neglects to transmit to the auditee or local auditee reports, statements of accounts or other documents upon request as provided by law or who obstructs or impedes the auditee in making the examination authorized by law shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than six months, or both.

C.(1) Each elected and appointed official, employee, and agent of the auditee or local auditee shall comply with any and all restrictions imposed by law on documents, data, or information deemed confidential by law and furnished to the auditee pursuant to Subsection B of this Section.

(2) Any person who discloses such confidential documents, data, or information shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars and, if a public employee, shall also be subject to dismissal from public employment.

D. If the type of audit report received by a local auditee from a licensed certified public accountant for three consecutive years is a disclaimer of opinion as defined by Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, the same person has served as agency head of the local auditee for those three consecutive years, and the legislative auditor determines that the agency head willfully failed to provide or maintain the necessary records to conduct the audit, then the three such audit reports shall be evidence of malfeasance in office by the agency head.

Acts 1975, No. 744, §1. Amended by Acts 1976, No. 75, §2. Acts 1984, No. 355, §1, eff. July 2, 1984; Acts 1991, No. 610, §1, eff. Dec. 31, 1991; Acts 2013, No. 255, §1.