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Auditor Edelen praises prison sentence for former superintendent
Auditor Edelen on Tuesday applauded the two-year federal prison sentence handed down to former Dayton Independent Schools Superintendent Gary Rye for embezzling taxpayer money from the tiny Northern Kentucky district.
“Today was a powerful demonstration that there are consequences for stealing from children,” Auditor Edelen said. “I am pleased justice was served as a result of our work last year and our partnership with the new leadership at the school district. Education is the most important moral obligation we have as a Commonwealth and the largest investment taxpayers make. I will continue to be present in education, making sure school systems run for the benefit of children and taxpayers.”
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Auditor Edelen applauds passage of bill improving school finance officer standards
Auditor Adam Edelen commended the General Assembly for passing House Bill 154, a measure aimed at increasing educational and training standards for school finance officers.
“It’s a no-brainer in the private sector that your CFO should be a highly-skilled, competent individual with a strong background in finance and accounting,” Auditor Edelen said. “Yet, astoundingly, we had no minimum educational or training standards for the individuals responsible for managing millions of taxpayer dollars that are needed to educate our kids. This bill will correct that.”
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Edelen Releases Audit of the Former Owsley Clerk’s Fee Account, Finds Cumulative Deficit of $307,768
State Auditor Adam Edelen today released the audits of the final financial statements of former Owsley County Clerk Sid Gabbard. This combines the 2012 financial statement and the 2013 statement, for the period of Jan. 1, 2012 through June 14, 2013. State law requires the auditor to conduct annual audits of county clerks and sheriffs.
The audit found that the Owsley County Clerk did not maintain adequate accounting records of fee account revenues and expenditures. The County Clerk’s financial records do not permit the application of other auditing procedures to verify fee account revenues and expenditures. Significant discrepancies in the records and a lack of adequate internal controls resulted in a high level of audit risk. Therefore, the auditor does not express an opinion on the financial statement.
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Auditor Edelen urges Senate leadership to protect taxpayers, pass House Bill 5
Auditor Adam Edelen on Thursday called on Senate leadership to put politics aside and pass a cyber security bill that affects every Kentuckian.
"In his own words, Senator Thayer said 'politics' is preventing a bill that had near unanimous support in the House from moving forward," Auditor Edelen said. "This is why good people hate Frankfort."
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Auditor Edelen releases Bluegrass Area Development District special exam, finds serious, systemic concerns about the agency’s financial activities
Auditor Adam Edelen on Tuesday released a special examination of the Bluegrass Area Development District (BGADD), which depicted an agency with rogue management that conducted activity far outside its scope and without proper oversight, used federal money for questionable purposes and failed to report potential criminal activity to law enforcement.
The examination will be referred to eight agencies, including the Kentucky Attorney General, the Kentucky State Police and FBI.
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Auditor Edelen receives national honor from prominent technology magazine
Auditor Adam Edelen has been named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers for 2014. The award is given annually to leaders making government both more efficient and more effective. The Auditor will be featured in the March issue of Government Technology and in a video on govtech.com
Auditor Edelen was recognized for the creation of his Citizen Auditor database, which provided greater transparency over special taxing districts such as libraries, sanitation districts and fire departments. He also was recognized for creating a digital SAFEhouse to enable citizens to securely and anonymously submit tips of waste, fraud, and abuse to the Auditor’s office and his current efforts to pass a cyber breach notification law in the 2014 legislative session.
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Auditor Edelen releases City of Covington special examination, finds former finance director stole at least $793,000
Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen on Thursday released a special examination into the City of Covington, finding that the former finance director had complete control over the city’s financial systems, allowing him to steal at least $793,000 over the past decade.
Auditor Edelen conducted the five-month-long investigation at the request of Kenton Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders, who is pursuing a criminal case against the former finance director.
"The report boils down to this: One individual had unfettered access to millions of taxpayer dollars without a single person looking over his shoulder for well over a decade," Auditor Edelen said. "That this could happen for that long in the 5th largest city in Kentucky is astounding and frankly inexcusable."
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Edelen Releases the Annual Statewide Audit of the Commonwealth, Expresses Concerns About Cyber Security Risks
Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen has released the first part of the annual statewide audit of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, expressing an unmodified or clean opinion on the state’s financial statements.
Auditor Edelen said the report contains eight findings relating to cyber security, further demonstrating the need for continued vigilance by state agencies to protect sensitive data.
“Although auditors didn’t identify any cyber security breaches, they did find instances of state agencies failing to take the necessary steps to protect confidential or sensitive information,” Auditor Edelen said. “This further illustrates the need for legislation to incentivize state and local government to better secure the data it holds on us, as well as require them to notify us when it’s lost or stolen.”
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Auditor Edelen Applauds Passage of Cyber Security Legislation
Bill Also Receives Endorsement of Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Auditor Adam Edelen on Wednesday praised passage of House Bill 5, which would require state and local government agencies to notify citizens if their personal information is breached.
The measure passed the House unanimously. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The bill has more than 70 co-sponsors, including an almost equal number of Republicans and Democrats. The primary bill sponsors are Reps. Denny Butler, a Democrat, and Sal Santoro, a Republican.
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Auditor Edelen, State Reps. Denny Butler, Santoro Outline Bill to Enhance Cyber Security Measures
Auditor Adam Edelen and state Reps. Denny Butler and Sal Santoro on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would require state and local government agencies to notify citizens if their personal information is breached.
House Bill 5 has broad, bipartisan support with more than 60 co-sponsors in the House.
“Simply put: If government loses your private information, you have the right to know,” Auditor Edelen said. “From Social Security numbers to tax returns, health records to credit card numbers, government possesses an enormous amount of sensitive, private information.”
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