State Auditor speaks to Tea Party

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State Auditor Gary Jones speaks to a large crowd in Poteau Monday during a LeFlore County Tea Party meeting. PDN photo by Regina Smith

The head of the state auditor's office was
on hand in Poteau Monday to answer questions
by citizens regarding the recent audit
findings for LeFlore County that were
released by his office in May.
Gary Jones, started the meeting by presenting
those in attendance with a map
showing just how far behind his office is in
county audits. He said that when he took
office in January his first action was to find
out how far behind they were and ask his
staff for a plan to get caught up. Jones
explained that is why the audit findings that
were released were from 2007, 2008, 2009
and 2010. According to Jones there are only
five counties in Oklahoma that are ready for
the 2011 audit. He also explained that many
of the violations contained in the audits may
have been repeat violations but given that
the county hadn't been audited since 2006
the problems may have been something that
had just been brought to the attention of
county officials.