The Missouri state auditor’s closeout audit of then-Governor Mike Parson’s office says the governor’s office paid travel costs for the governor for non-business purposes that did not appear necessary to office operations.
The closeout audit from Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick gave the office of the Governor under Mike Parson a “fair” rating. The auditor’s office has four ratings: excellent, good, fair and poor.
Auditor Fitzpatrick also says his staff reviewed media advisories and releases and compared them to flights on state aircraft and could not find a specific purpose for state business for 58 of the 174 trips.
The closeout audit also found that the governor’s office did not document the business purpose of Governor-hosted events at the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City and that some events “did not have a business purpose.”
Auditor Fitzpatrick’s report says former Governor Mike Parson’s response does not indicate any specific inaccuracies in the report, “but rather indicates explanations provided by him and his former staff to the findings were not meaningfully reflected in the report, (that) the audit findings were subjective, and (that) his administration no longer had access to records.” Governor Parson’s response also indicates that the auditors “may not have accurately interpreted or fully evaluated the records.” Auditor Fitzpatrick says the audit findings in the report are supported by sufficient and appropriate evidence.