Audit Authority

The authority and responsibilities of the Legislative Audit Bureau and State Auditor are enumerated in s. 13.94, Wis. Stats., which includes a broad mandate to provide assurance that financial transactions have been made in a legal and proper manner and to review government performance and program accomplishments. Statutes grant the Bureau access to financial records and other documentation relating to certain state and local entities, including records and documents that are confidential by law.

Under the requirements of 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, the Bureau conducts annual financial audits of the pension systems of the County of Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee. The Bureau may conduct other audits of local units of government, but only when directed to do so by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee subject to a maximum limit permitted by state law.

By statute, the Bureau may not examine issues related to academic freedom within the University of Wisconsin System; examine issues or comment upon the content of the various academic programs, including degree requirements, majors, curriculum or courses within the University of Wisconsin System; examine into the manner in which individual faculty members or groups of faculty members conduct their instructional research, or public service activities. However, these exclusions do not preclude the Bureau from reviewing the procedures by which decisions are made and priorities set in the University of Wisconsin System.