Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
Statutory. All information maintained by the office that was confidential by or
pursuant to law when secured by the Auditor General shall be maintained in
accordance with Section 6-1 of the Illinois State Auditing Act [30 ILCS
5/6-1 ] and other applicable law.
b) Information Related to Current Work.
1) Information not otherwise confidential,
but acquired or developed as part of an ongoing audit, attestation engagement,
investigation, study, or inquiry shall be classified confidential until the
conclusion of the audit, attestation engagement, investigation, study, or
inquiry to which the information pertains. The Auditor General may release the
information only to:
A) persons or entities
named in the audit, attestation engagement, investigation, study, or inquiry to
which the information pertains;
B)
governmental agencies with whom the Auditor General is jointly conducting or
co-operating on an audit or attestation engagement, to the extent necessary for
the conduct of the audit or attestation engagement;
C) prosecutorial offices, government agencies
with investigatory powers and sworn law enforcement agencies if approved by the
Auditor General but subject to subsection (b)(3) of this Section; and
D) current or potential contractors, but only
on a need to know basis, for specific audit or engagement purposes.
2) The issuance of the final
report shall establish the conclusion of the audit, attestation engagement,
investigation, study, or inquiry that is the subject of the report, and all
information acquired or developed as part of the audit, attestation engagement,
investigation, study, or inquiry and classified confidential by operation of
this subsection (b) shall at that time become public information, unless the
Auditor General provides otherwise pursuant to subsection (c) or Section
420.640(h)
of this Part.
3) Prosecutorial
offices, government agencies with investigatory powers and law enforcement
agencies shall not obtain through, or in conjunction with, the Office of the
Auditor General, data, information, or evidence that the prosecutorial office,
government agency with investigatory powers or law enforcement agency could not
lawfully obtain through its own authorities.
c) Investigation. All information and
documents pertaining to an investigation conducted pursuant to Section 3-4 ISAA
may be classified as confidential and, if classified as confidential, may not
be disclosed outside the office except as provided in Section 420.Subpart C of
this Part or as declared in the resolution authorizing the
investigation.
d) Personnel
Information. All personnel information of the Office of the Auditor General
matchable to an individual concerning job performance evaluations, personal
conduct, disclosure statements, personal characteristics and health shall be
confidential, and may be released only as authorized by law or with the consent
of the individual affected.
e)
Special Assistant Auditor Evaluations. Trade, business, and proprietary
information concerning special assistant auditors and the performance
evaluations of special assistant auditors shall be maintained confidential and
may be disclosed to persons outside the office only as necessary to an
authorized audit or inquiry concerning expenditures of our office. An audit or
inquiry is authorized if it is required by law, by formal action of the General
Assembly or the Legislative Audit Commission, or by request of a designated
peer review committee reviewing the Office of the Auditor General's audit or
attestation process.
f) Audit
and/or Attestation Engagement Selection Criteria.
1) Any test, standard, or specification
intended for use in an audit or attestation engagement may be maintained
confidential if:
A) the test, standard, or
specification under consideration is necessary or applicable to a future audit
or attestation engagement and disclosure would impair the validity or
reliability of the test, standard, procedure or specification for future
application; or
B) disclosure might
impair auditor techniques or methods or procedures designed to detect fraud,
abuse, or other illegal activity.
2) Any information declared confidential
under this subsection (f) shall be disclosed jointly to the Chair and Co-Chair
of the Legislative Audit Commission at the joint request of the Chair and
Co-Chair.