| Public Release Date: September 5, 1997 | No. 97-48 |
The Office of the Attorney General was established by Article V of the constitution of the state of Minnesota. Hubert H. Humphrey III is the current Attorney General. The Attorney General's main duties include providing legal advice, representing state agencies and their officials, and offering direct assistance to citizens of Minnesota. The Attorney General also represents Minnesota in civil and criminal cases and is a member of the Executive Council, the Pardons Board, the Land Exchange Board, and the State Board of Investment.
The objectives of our audit were to gain an understanding of the internal control structure over the accounting and reporting of financial activities of the agency and to determine if the Office of the Attorney General complied with material finance-related legal provisions. The areas covered by our audit were attorney general funding sources, fines and restitutions, federal grants, payroll, and other administrative expenditures for the period January 1, 1995, through December 31, 1996.
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) properly collected, deposited, and recorded revenues for attorney general services, fines, and restitutions on the state's accounting system. The AGO did not, however, have a sufficient process for recovering its full cost of services for non general funded activities. Also, the AGO did not have an adequate separation of duties over depositing fines and restitutions. In addition, the AGO did not follow up on accounts receivable.
The AGO properly collected, deposited, and recorded federal grant revenues into the state's accounting system. However, it continued to hold a portion of program income due to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The AGO also did not submit its fiscal year 1996 State Medicaid Fraud Control Units final report within the required time.
The AGO adequately supported and accurately recorded its payroll and other administrative expenditures in the state's accounting records. However, the AGO did not adequately verify the accuracy of its payroll or control system access to separate its payroll and personnel functions. The AGO was in compliance with material finance-related legal provisions and bargaining unit agreements with respect to the items tested.
