State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick begins regularly scheduled review of Gasconade County

Although it's too early for Maifest or Oktoberfest, state auditors have made the trip to Hermann, Missouri as they work to conduct a regularly scheduled performance audit of Gasconade County. State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced this week that his office has launched a regularly scheduled audit of the county that began during an entrance meeting with county officials on Thursday, March 19.

"Hermann is known to many as the sausage-making capital of Missouri and while some may say in politics it's best not to see how the sausage is made, an audit is the most effective way to take a look behind the curtain and make sure county government is operating accountably and transparently," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. "We will spend the next several months conducting a thorough review of the county offices with the goal of giving taxpayers a better understanding of how effectively and efficiently their government is operating. During the audit we encourage anyone who may have information that is useful to our office to contact our Whistleblower Hotline."

The most recent performance audit of Gasconade County was released in 2019. The audit provided the county with a "fair" rating as it questioned the appropriateness of several purchases made using an account maintained by the former sheriff outside of the county treasury. The report found the former sheriff maintained the Sheriff's Office Reserve Fund account outside of the county treasury and did not properly document spending from the fund. Questionable purchases included payments to local restaurants, grocery stores and a pawn shop, as well as charity donations and memberships in local organizations. 

Individuals may provide information confidentially for consideration during the audit of Gasconade County to the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline at 800-347-8597, by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov, or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.