State Auditor Rob Sand says parole board cited Republican-backed law to deny him documents

State Auditor Rob Sand says a state agency is citing a Republican-backed law passed last year to deny his office access to documents.

Sand, a Democrat, said his office received a tip that Iowa Board of Parole members were not attending all the hearings required by state law. When his office followed up, the board said it had fixed the problem but declined to provide Sand with records to support the claim.

Sand said it's the first case of a government body denying records to his office citing Senate File 478, a law passed last year that bars the auditor's office from going to court against another statewide elected official or state department, agency, board or commission to enforce a subpoena for documents.

"Last year, despite bipartisan opposition, the governor signed the most pro-corruption bill in Iowa history, allowing state agencies to hide documents from the auditor’s office, and the truth from you, the taxpayers," Sand said at a news conference Thursday. "Today we are issuing the first report telling the public that the truth remains hidden from them as a result of that law."

From 2023: Iowa Senate gives final approval to bill limiting state Auditor Rob Sand's powers

The auditor's report, released Thursday, says the Board of Parole said the request was unrelated to its annual audit and declined to provide the records.

"Citing Senate File 478 (SF478), the board office refused to provide any information or the records to the Auditor of State’s Office without a separate engagement letter," the report states.

Marilee Mitchell, the Board of Parole's administrative secretary, provided a statement Thursday afternoon on behalf of the board.

"Audit engagement letters set out the rights and responsibilities of the parties to the audit, for the benefit of both the auditor and the agency," Iowa Board of Parole Chair Renee Schulte said in the statement. "As noted in the audit report, the Board of Parole requested an engagement letter as required in Iowa law. The auditor refused to provide one."

"The auditor may believe he's above the law, but he still has to follow it," Kollin Crompton, a spokesperson for Gov. Kim Reynolds, said in a statement. "Engagement letters are an industry standard, and it's concerning that he refuses to comply with it."

The auditor's report says Sand's office met the criteria for beginning an audit according to government auditing standards. The report says the auditor's office also obtained an engagement letter to conduct its annual audit of the state of Iowa, which includes the Board of Parole.

Republicans have said the law was intended to protect Iowans' personal information by preventing the auditor's office from accessing certain personal records, as well as to save taxpayer money by limiting government lawsuits.

"It was intended to save taxpayers money with commonsense principles like government shouldn’t sue government," the bill's author, Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, said last year, "and if government can work out its differences through an arbitration process, then that makes a heck of a lot of sense."

Rather than allowing the auditor's office to go to court, the law established a three-person arbitration panel to decide disputes between the auditor's office and other state entities. The panel is made up of one member picked by the auditor's office, a second member picked by the agency being audited and a third member picked by the governor.

Sand said he did not choose to pursue the arbitration process in this case, saying he's "not sure that there would be a point."

"That panel would be one person from our office, one person from the Board of Parole, which works at the pleasure of the governor and then the third person chosen by the governor," he said. "I like efficiency in government. I’m not here to clown around and waste people’s time."

More: Lawmakers aim to outsource Iowa audits. Auditor's office says it's 'recipe for corruption'

Sand is the only Democrat elected to statewide office in Iowa. The Iowa Legislature and governor's office are controlled by Republicans.

And Republican lawmakers are again considering scaling back the duties of the auditor's office this year.

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans advanced a new bill, Senate File 2311, that would allow state agencies and departments to employ a certified public accountant to perform their annual office, rather than the state auditor's office. The agency would then submit the results of the audit to the state auditor.

"Accountants believe they have a high ethical standard and can deliver this, and would deliver it well, with the flexibility that would bring efficiency and effectiveness to state government as well," Bousselot said. He said many local governments use certified public accountants to conduct their audits.

Sand said the bill would undermine the independent review provided by the state auditor's office by allowing agencies to hire the firm that audits them.

"The purpose of SF 2311 is not to create a better system for taxpayers," Sand said. "It’s to undermine an independently elected official of the state of Iowa and all of the people who work in this office for taxpayers, and it’s to increase corruption in the state of Iowa."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rob Sand says agency cited Republican-backed law to deny him documents