1. The Audit Subcommittee shall confer with the Legislative Auditor to establish standards of performance to be required of a firm chosen to perform an audit. The Audit Subcommittee shall conduct negotiations with each of the firms recommended for consideration by the Legislative Auditor and shall select the firm or firms which, in the judgment of the Audit Subcommittee, are best qualified to meet the standards of performance established. During the negotiations and in making its selection, the Audit Subcommittee shall consider:

(a) The competency of the firms being considered;

(b) The estimated cost of the services required to conduct the audit; and

(c) The scope and complexity of the services required.

2. Each contract for an audit must be signed by the Legislative Auditor and an authorized representative of the firm selected to perform the audit. The Legislative Auditor shall periodically inspect the performance of the firm performing the audit to ensure that the terms of the contract are being complied with.

3. Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 218G.330 and 218G.340, the officers and employees of a firm performing an audit shall keep information disclosed by an audit in strict confidence and shall not disclose the contents of an audit before it is presented to the Audit Subcommittee or submitted to the appropriate federal agency or an entity designated by the federal agency. The officers and employees of the firm have the same rights of access to books, accounts, records, files, correspondence or other documents that the Legislative Auditor has.

4. At the conclusion of the audit, the firm or firms which have performed the audit shall submit a written report of the audit to the Legislative Auditor. The Legislative Auditor shall follow the procedures set forth in NRS 218G.230, concerning preliminary audit reports and shall attend, or have a member of the Legislative Auditor’s staff attend, the discussion held pursuant to that section.

5. The Legislative Commission may by regulation provide for the distribution of copies of the written report submitted to the Legislative Auditor pursuant to subsection 4, to each member of the Audit Subcommittee before the report is presented to the Audit Subcommittee pursuant to subsection 6.

6. The Legislative Auditor shall present the final audit report to the Audit Subcommittee and thereafter distribute the report or a summary of the report to Legislators, other appropriate state officers and the head of the agency audited. If federal law requires the Legislative Auditor to submit the final audit report to a federal agency or an entity designated by the federal agency, the Legislative Auditor may submit the report to the federal agency or entity before the Legislative Auditor presents it to the Audit Subcommittee.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 1177; A 1983, 162; 1991, 394; 1997, 107; 2011, 3250)