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State Auditor Wants Access to Finance Division Records

Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich will push for legislation next year he said will enable his office to oversee the state’s Division of Finance without interference from state agencies or private entities.

By Marshall Griffin (Jefferson City, Mo.)

The proposed bill is, in part, the result of an ongoing legal battle with the Missouri Banker’s Association.  Schweich said the MBA is seeking to block his office from examining how the state Finance Division examined the records of a number of failed banks in Missouri.

“If the Missouri Banker’s Association is successful in shutting down performance audits, we will be the least fiscally accountable state in the United States of America. ”

Schweich said the proposed bill would clarify the State Auditor’s authority to conduct performance audits of state agencies and to have complete access to bank exam records.  The head of the MBA said granting that level of access would violate both the state constitution and the privacy of bank customers.

As a born and raised Cleveland, Ohioan, Leanne Butkovic is no stranger to extreme fluctuating weather, frustrating sports teams and the charm of the Midwest and the people within it. She is a senior in the convergence journalism sequence at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has worked in several different newsrooms, yet has always had a penchant for radio. Since her freshman year, Leanne has produced her own music show on the university's student-run radio station, KCOU. She has also contributed to several magazines and their online affiliates based in Ohio, including Scene Magazine and multiple trade publications. She was an intern for VICE Media, working in their online documentary TV 'station' VBS.tv, in New York City this summer.