52:24-4 Duties, responsibilities of State Auditor.

52:24-4. It shall be the duty of the State Auditor to conduct post-audits of all transactions and accounts kept by or for all departments, offices and agencies of the State Government, to report to the Legislature or to any committee thereof and to the Governor, and to the Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services, as provided by this chapter and as shall be required by law, and to perform such other similar or related duties as shall, from time to time, be required by law.

The State Auditor shall personally or by any duly authorized assistants, or by contract with independent public accountant firms, examine and post-audit all the accounts, reports and statements and make independent verifications of all assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures of the State, its departments, institutions, boards, commissions, officers, and any and all other State agencies, now in existence or hereafter created, hereinafter in this chapter called "accounting agencies."

The State Auditor shall conduct, at the direction of the Legislative Services Commission or of the presiding officer of either house of the Legislature or on the State Auditor's own initiative, a performance review audit of any program of any accounting agency, any independent authority, or any public entity or grantee that receives State funds, in a manner that is consistent with the Government Auditing Standards for performance audits utilized by the United States Government Accountability Office or its successor.

When the State Auditor conducts any audit or performance review audit, the accounting agency, or authority, entity or grantee, shall respond in writing to each item in the State Auditor's report and the State Auditor, at an appropriate time determined by the State Auditor, shall conduct a post-audit review of the accounting agency's, or authority's, entity's, or grantee's, compliance with the State Auditor's recommendations.

The officers and employees of each accounting agency, or authority, entity, or grantee, shall assist the State Auditor, when and as required by the State Auditor, and provide the State Auditor with prompt access to all records necessary for the State Auditor to perform the duties of the State Auditor, notwithstanding any statutory or regulatory requirements of confidentiality with regard to the records, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter. The State Auditor shall report the failure of any accounting agency, or authority, entity, or grantee, to provide prompt access to any relevant record to the presiding officer of each house of the Legislature. The State Auditor shall not disclose a confidential record provided by an accounting agency, or authority, entity, or grantee, except as may be necessary for the State Auditor to fulfill any constitutional or statutory responsibilities. Working papers prepared by the State Auditor shall be confidential and shall not be considered government records under P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.).

The State Auditor shall conduct audits of the New Jersey Transit Corporation in accordance with the requirements of subsection a. of section 6 of P.L.2018, c.162 (C.27:25-5.24).

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, post-audits and performance review audits shall be conducted within the limits of the resources and personnel available to the State Auditor. If resources and personnel are insufficient to conduct all such required post-audits and performance review audits, the State Auditor may prioritize certain audits and forgo others upon notice to the Governor and the presiding officer of each house of the Legislature.

amended 1948, c.29, s.2; 1971, c.211, s.14; 2006, c.82, s.1; 2018, c.162, s.11.