SB 80 — State Auditor Disclosure and Discovery Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2023 S 21 SENATE BILL 80 Judiciary Committee Substitute Adopted 4/4/23 Short Title:

Senators Britt, Craven, and Perry (Primary Sponsors).

Rules and Operations of the Senate February 8, 2023 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO ENACT THE STATE AUDITOR DISCLOSURE AND DISCOVERY ACT.

147-64.6(d)147-64.6 reads as rewritten:

"(d)"§ Reports147-64.6. and Work Papers.

Duties and responsibilities.

… (c) Responsibilities.

– The Auditor is responsible for the following acts and activities:

(1) Audits made or caused to be made by the Auditor shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards as prescribed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the United States General Accounting Office, or other professionally recognized accounting standards-setting bodies.

… (20) Whenever the Auditor believes that information received or collected by the Auditor may be evidence of criminal misconduct, the Auditor shall report that information to either the State Bureau of Investigation or and the district attorney for the county where the alleged misconduct occurred.

Nothing in this subdivision limits the Auditor's authority under subdivision (1) of this subsection.subsection except that the Auditor shall not make anyextrajudicial statements that have a likelihood of prejudicing a criminal investigation, an adjudicatory proceeding during the pendency of a criminal investigation, or a subsequent prosecution.

… (d) Reports and Work Papers.

Audit reports, work papers papers, and other evidence and related supportive material directly pertaining to the work of the Auditor's office shall be retained according to an agreement between the Auditor and State Archives.

To(d1) promoteSharing intergovernmentalRecords cooperationwith andOther avoidAgencies. unnecessary duplication of audit effort, and notwithstanding the provisions of G.S.

126-24,– pertinentTo workpromote papersintergovernmental andcooperation other supportive material related to an audit or investigation made pursuant to this section may shall be, at the discretion of the Auditor and unlessavoid otherwiseunnecessary prohibitedduplication by law, made available for inspection and access by duly authorized representatives of theaudit State and federalinvestigative governmenteffort, who desire access to and inspectionnotwithstanding of the recordsprovisions in connection with some matter officially before them, including an official civil or criminal investigations.investigation or potential prosecution being conducted under the authority of theirG.S. office.

If126-24, the Auditorcomplete withholdsfile fromand productionother anypertinent requestedwork papers orand all other supportive material basedrelated onto aan claimaudit thator theirinvestigation productionmade ispursuant prohibitedto bythis law,section thenmay forbe, eachat the discretion of the papersAuditor orand supportiveunless materialotherwise withheldprohibited fromby productionlaw, onmade thatavailable basis,for theinspection Auditorby shallduly (i)authorized provideshall abe citationprovided to theany specificrepresentatives lawof prohibitingthe suchState production and (ii)federal describegovernment thewho naturedesire ofaccess theto papersand orinspection supportiveof materialthe withheldrecords from production in aconnection mannerwith that,some withoutmatter revealingofficially informationbefore itselfthem, claimedincluding tocriminal beinvestigations. protected from production, will enable the requesting party to assess the claim.

The requestingAuditor, partyhowever, may challengeseek thea validity*S80-v-1* ofGeneral theAssembly Auditor'sOf claimNorth withCarolina respectSession to2023 anyofprotective order regarding the withhelduse papersand disclosure of all or supportivepart materialof bycommencinga record by filing a civil action in superior court,court in which the requestingcounty partywhere shalljurisdiction haveover thea burdenrelated ofpotential provingcriminal thataction productionexists. of the withheld papers or supportive material is not prohibited by law.

ExceptThe asAuditor providedshall indemonstrate thisbyclear section, or upon an order issued in Wake County Superior Court upon 10 days' notice and hearingconvincing findingevidence that accessthe order is either necessary to aprotect properthe administrationconfidential ofor justice,privileged auditnature workof papersall andor relatedpart supportiveof materialthe arerecord confidential,or includingis anyrequired interpretations,by advisoryother opinions,lawofthisStateorfederallaw.TheAuditorshallprovidetherepresentativeoftheStateorfederal orgovernment otherrequesting informationthe orrecord materials10 furnisheddays' tonotice, orand by the Statecourt Ethicsshall Commissionhold undera thishearing section."if SECTIONrequested 2.by either party.

(d2) Confidentiality.

– Except as provided in this section, section or upon an order issued in Wake CountySuperior Court upon 10 days' notice and hearing finding that access is necessary to a proper administration of justice, to comply with a court order, audit work papers and related supportive material are confidential, including any interpretations, advisory opinions, or other information or materials furnished to or by the State Ethics Commission under this section.

…." SECTION 2.

*S80-v-2*Page 2 Senate Bill 80-First Edition