Report No. 2008-09
February 2008
Complete Audit Report

The following report is our audit of the Office of Governor.

The Governor uses the security and some transportation resources provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) for all official, political, and personal activities. He does not reimburse the state for any political or personal use. State law allows the governor's security division to "provide transportation, security, and protection for the governor and the governor's immediate family." No distinction is made between official state business and events that are personal or political. The Missouri Constitution prohibits the use of state resources for personal or private gain. In addition, there is no specific provision that exists in state law that allows a state official to use any state resource for anything other than official use.

State resources should be used for the benefit of the general public. If the state intends to allow the Governor to use any state resource for anything other than business purposes, legislation should be pursued to clearly allow this practice and other related conditions. At a minimum, until such provisions are approved, with the possible exception of security, the use of any state resource by the Governor for purposes other than official state business should be reimbursed or discontinued.

Significant costs of the Governor's security division, within the MSHP, are not specifically identified in the division's appropriations. Currently, several patrolmen of the MSHP are assigned to the Governor's security division. The Governor's security division receives annual appropriations from the state's General Revenue Fund for the division's operating expenses, including travel, uniform/clothing allowance, professional development, and equipment. Salaries and fringe benefits of the security personnel and their vehicles and related vehicle fuel and maintenance/repair costs are not included in the security division's appropriations. These costs are paid from other MSHP appropriations and are not separately tracked and accounted for by the MSHP.

The operations of the Office of Governor have been supplemented by appropriations of the Office of Administration (OA), with various employees of the Governor's office budgeted to and paid from appropriations of the OA. These employees were physically located in and supervised by the Governor's office and mansion, and performed duties attendant to programs and functions of the Office of Governor. Similar practices have been noted in reports on prior administrations.

At January 10, 2005, the capital assets balance for the office and mansion totaled approximately $322,700 and $160,400, respectively. An annual statement of changes in capital assets is not prepared and a complete list of all additions and dispositions is not maintained for either the office or mansion. The current capital assets listing for both the office and mansion are incomplete and inaccurate. Numerous items that were included on the prior administration's asset listing are still physically located in the mansion, but are not on the current listing.

The Office of Governor needs to improve the accountability over the functions held at the mansion to ensure public funds are spent appropriately. The mansion's calendar of events and other documentation do not include a sufficient detailed description of the purpose for each function held at the mansion to provide assurance as to the propriety of the function. In addition, neither the mansion nor the Missouri Mansion Preservation, Inc. retain a list of invitees/attendees for functions held at the mansion.

The office's employee manual needs to be more complete and comprehensive. The manual does not include certain issues typically addressed in an office/employee manual, including part-time employment, use of state resources, confidentiality, performance appraisals, and training and development of staff. Also, the manual's policy on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compensatory time does not comply with state law.

The manual does not clearly and adequately address issues related to e-mail use and retention, or sunshine law requests. The general nature of the office's record retention policy provides little assurance that all necessary records will be properly retained. It does not clearly define a record or specifically indicate that e-mail records are covered under the policy. It also makes no reference to the Secretary of State's Guidelines for Managing E-mail Records, nor does the policy provide other specific guidance to employees regarding the definition of a record and the necessity to retain such records, specifically as it relates to electronic records. Also, the open records policy does not state that a response to the requestor is needed within three business days.

The office did not always comply with state regulations and policies regarding state procurement cards, employee expense accounts, travel expenses of an employee's spouse, and vehicular travel. Additionally, some expenditures were not properly classified, there were duplicate payments, and no one reviews and approves the mansion's SAM II expenditures.

Complete Audit Report
Missouri State Auditor's Office
moaudit@auditor.mo.gov