{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-64.810","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 64.810","heading":"Annual audit of books of fiscal court or county office by certified public","body":"accountant, if auditor declines to perform audit -- Procedure.\n(1) (a) Any fiscal court, county clerk, or sheriff may employ a certified public\naccountant to audit the books, ac counts, and papers of the county or his office\nin lieu of the audit conducted by the State Auditor of Public Accounts\nrequired by KRS 43.070, if the Auditor of Public Accounts declines to\nperform the audit or has failed to respond to written notice of inte nt to employ\na certified public accountant within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice.\n(b) In the case of a documented emergency requiring an immediate audit which\nthe Auditor of Public Accounts cannot complete within the requested\ndeadline, the Audi tor of Public Accounts shall authorize the fiscal court, the\ncounty clerk, or sheriff to engage a certified public accountant to complete the\nemergency audit. A certified public accountant may be engaged to conduct an\nemergency audit only after guaranteein g in writing to the Auditor of Public\nAccounts that the audit and audit report will be finished within the deadline\noriginally requested of the Auditor of Public Accounts. The fiscal court shall\nbear the full cost of any county audit conducted pursuant to this paragraph.\nThe county clerk or the sheriff shall bear the full cost of any audit of his office\nconducted pursuant to this paragraph, from funds received or collected by\nhim, and the cost of the audit shall be construed as an expense of his office.\nAudits conducted pursuant to this paragraph shall be subject to the provisions\nof subsections (4) and (5) of this section.\n(2) A fiscal court which has elected to employ a certified public accountant pursuant to\nsubsection (1)(a) of this section shall notify the State Auditor in writing by July 31\nfollowing the fiscal year to be audited of the name of the certified public accountant\nit has employed. The fiscal court shall bear the full cost of any audit conducted\npursuant to this section. An elected official w ho has elected to employ a certified\npublic accountant pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section shall:\n(a) Notify the fiscal court and the State Auditor in writing by January 30\nfollowing the calendar year to be audited of the name of the certified pu blic\naccountant employed by said official to audit the books, accounts, and papers\nof his office; and\n(b) Bear the cost of the audit from funds received or collected by him, and the\ncost of the audit shall be construed as an expense of his office.\n(3) Any contract with a certified public accountant entered into pursuant to subsection\n(1)(a) of this section shall specify the following:\n(a) The audit of a county official shall be completed by August 1 following the\ncalendar year being audited, and the audit o f a county budget shall be\ncompleted by February 1 following the fiscal year being audited;\n(b) The certified public accountant shall forward a copy of the fee officer audit\nreport and management letters to the county official, fiscal court of the county,\nand the Auditor of Public Accounts upon completion of the audit, and no later\nthan August 1 following the calendar year being audited;\n(c) The certified public accountant shall forward a copy of the county budget\naudit report and management letters to the fiscal court of the county and the\nAuditor of Public Accounts upon completion of the audit and no later than\nFebruary 1 following the fiscal year being audited; and\n(d) The Auditor of Public Accounts shall have the right to review the certified\npublic accountant's work papers before and after the release of the audit.\n(4) After preliminary review of the certified public accountant's work papers, should\ndiscrepancies be found, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall notify the fiscal court\nor fee official of th e discrepancies. Should the certified public accountant not\ncorrect such discrepancies prior to the release of the audit, the Auditor's office may\nconduct its own audit to verify the findings of the certified public accountant's\nreport. If such audit is co nducted, the expenses to said county or county official, as\ndirected by KRS 43.070(4) shall be construed as an allowable expense of office. If\nthe audit conducted by the Auditor of Public Accounts discloses discrepancies in\nthe audit by the certified publi c accountant, the findings of the Auditor of Public\nAccounts shall be deemed official for purposes of collection of money owed the\ncounty pursuant to KRS 64.820.\n(5) No later than February 1 following the fiscal year being audited, or August 1\nfollowing the calendar year being audited, the fiscal court or county official shall\nsubmit the accountant's written report to the Governor, the General Assembly, the\nAttorney General, the State Librarian, and county attorney of his county. In addition\nthe fiscal cour t or the official shall send the report to the newspaper having the\nlargest paid circulation in the county, and the letter of transmittal accompanying the\nreport shall be published in said newspaper in accordance with the provisions of\nKRS Chapter 424.\n(6) This section shall not be construed as eliminating the requirement that the books,\naccounts, and papers of the above-named officials be audited yearly.","path":["KRS Chapter 64"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=23308","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:19Z","sha256":"a471b9f663303fe6b2cb763cd37556c2c5bc5aa1a90a680de09486fadfb1522e","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-64.780","next":"us-ky/krs-64.820"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}