On Tuesday, December 29, the Western District Court of Appeals upheld a ruling made last year confirming the Auditor’s legal authority to conduct performance audits. In October 2019, the Cole County Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit by the Clay County Commission that sought to prevent a citizen-requested audit of the county. The County Commission attempted to overturn that ruling in October by appealing the decision, but today’s action affirms the previous court’s decision.

*Despite ongoing attempts to obstruct this office’s efforts to get answers for taxpayers, work on the audit of Clay County will continue - Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway*

“Today’s ruling is another win for Clay County citizens who simply want accountability and transparency from their government,” said the Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway in a statement on Tuesday. “Despite ongoing attempts to obstruct this office’s efforts to get answers for taxpayers, work on the audit of Clay County will continue.”

A second legal case related to the audit is ongoing. In October 2020, the Clay County Circuit Court affirmed the Auditor’s authority to access routine records and information associated with the audit. At the beginning of December, the County Commission led by Associate Commissioners Ridgeway and Owen appealed that ruling.

Clay County Circuit Court’s judgement on October 26 stated that the county must turn over documents and individual performance appraisals as specified the November 2019 subpoena. The court mandated that the audit of Clay County must be allowed to continue, and gave the county 10 days cooperate with Galloway and submit the requested documents. The county has asked the court for an extension to the deadline in order to come up with a plan to stall the audit by appeal.

The audit of Clay County has been active for over two years. It began in December 2018 after a citizen petition was submitted to the Auditor’s Office and then verified to have more than the minimum 5,590 signatures of county residents who are registered voters.

In January 2019, the Clay County Commission sued to prevent the auditor from conducting the citizen-mandated audit. An October 24, 2019, court ruling confirmed the auditor’s legal authority to conduct performance audits and dismissed the County Commission’s lawsuit against the auditor. That decision was upheld today by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

During the course of the two-year audit, Auditor Galloway has issued multiple subpoenas to demand answers from the Clay County Commission and has continued to fight in court to compel cooperation from the commission.

As this story continues to develop, you can follow updates on 102.7FM - KPGZ and 1027KearneyMO.com.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story