State auditor info. access

AN ACT Relating to information access by the state auditor for 1
the purpose of conducting authorized audits; and amending RCW 2
43.09.020, 70.225.040, 50A.25.070, 13.50.050, and 13.50.100.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 43.09.020 and 1989 c 140 s 1 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) The auditor shall be auditor of public accounts, and shall 7
have such powers and perform such duties in connection therewith as 8
may be prescribed by law. 9
(2) In the discharge of any duty herein imposed, the auditor and 10
any of the auditor's employees shall have the authority to examine 11
and inspect all properties, equipment, facilities, files, records, 12
and accounts of any state office, department, institution, board, 13
committee, commission, agency, or local government.14
(3) The authority in this section extends to access any 15
confidential records needed to discharge the auditor's audit duties. 16
However, access to confidential records for the purpose of conducting 17
audits does not change their confidential nature, and any existing 18
confidentiality requirements shall remain in force and be similarly 19
respected by the auditor and the auditor's employees.20
S-4050.1
SENATE BILL 6266
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Muzzall, Braun, Christian, Dozier, Gildon, Goehner,
MacEwen, Schoesler, Short, Wagoner, Warnick, and J. Wilson
Read first time 01/21/26. Referred to Committee on State Government,
Tribal Affairs & Elections.
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Sec. 2. RCW 70.225.040 and 2020 c 80 s 50 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) All information submitted to the prescription monitoring 3
program is confidential, exempt from public inspection, copying, and 4
disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW, not subject to subpoena or 5
discovery in any civil action, and protected under federal health 6
care information privacy requirements, except as provided in 7
subsections (3) through (6) of this section. Such confidentiality and 8
exemption from disclosure continues whenever information from the 9
prescription monitoring program is provided to a requestor under 10
subsection (3), (4), (5), or (6) of this section except when used in 11
proceedings specifically authorized in subsection (3), (4), or (5) of 12
this section. 13
(2) The department must maintain procedures to ensure that the 14
privacy and confidentiality of all information collected, recorded, 15
transmitted, and maintained including, but not limited to, the 16
prescriber, requestor, dispenser, patient, and persons who received 17
prescriptions from dispensers, is not disclosed to persons except as 18
in subsections (3) through (6) of this section. 19
(3) The department may provide data in the prescription 20
monitoring program to the following persons: 21
(a) Persons authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled 22
substances or legend drugs, for the purpose of providing medical or 23
pharmaceutical care for their patients; 24
(b) An individual who requests the individual's own prescription 25
monitoring information; 26
(c) A health professional licensing, certification, or regulatory 27
agency or entity in this or another jurisdiction. Consistent with 28
current practice, the data provided may be used in legal proceedings 29
concerning the license; 30
(d) Appropriate law enforcement or prosecutorial officials, 31
including local, state, and federal officials and officials of 32
federally recognized tribes, who are engaged in a bona fide specific 33
investigation involving a designated person; 34
(e) The director or the director's designee within the health 35
care authority regarding medicaid recipients and members of the 36
health care authority self-funded or self-insured health plans;37
(f) The director or director's designee within the department of 38
labor and industries regarding workers' compensation claimants;39
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(g) The director or the director's designee within the department 1
of corrections regarding offenders committed to the department of 2
corrections; 3
(h) Other entities under grand jury subpoena or court order;4
(i) Personnel of the department for purposes of:5
(i) Assessing prescribing and treatment practices and morbidity 6
and mortality related to use of controlled substances and developing 7
and implementing initiatives to protect the public health including, 8
but not limited to, initiatives to address opioid use disorder;9
(ii) Providing quality improvement feedback to prescribers, 10
including comparison of their respective data to aggregate data for 11
prescribers with the same type of license and same specialty; and12
(iii) Administration and enforcement of this chapter or chapter 13
69.50 RCW; 14
(j) Personnel of a test site that meet the standards under RCW 15
70.225.070 pursuant to an agreement between the test site and a 16
person identified in (a) of this subsection to provide assistance in 17
determining which medications are being used by an identified patient 18
who is under the care of that person; 19
(k) A health care facility or entity for the purpose of providing 20
medical or pharmaceutical care to the patients of the facility or 21
entity, or for quality improvement purposes if the facility or entity 22
is licensed by the department or is licensed or certified under 23
chapter 71.24, 71.34, or 71.05 RCW or is an entity deemed for 24
purposes of chapter 71.24 RCW to meet state minimum standards as a 25
result of accreditation by a recognized behavioral health accrediting 26
body, or is operated by the federal government or a federally 27
recognized Indian tribe; 28
(l) A health care provider group of five or more prescribers or 29
dispensers for purposes of providing medical or pharmaceutical care 30
to the patients of the provider group, or for quality improvement 31
purposes if all the prescribers or dispensers in the provider group 32
are licensed by the department or the provider group is operated by 33
the federal government or a federally recognized Indian tribe;34
(m) The local health officer of a local health jurisdiction for 35
the purposes of patient follow-up and care coordination following a 36
controlled substance overdose event. For the purposes of this 37
subsection "local health officer" has the same meaning as in RCW 38
70.05.010; ((and))39
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(n) The coordinated care electronic tracking program developed in 1
response to section 213, chapter 7, Laws of 2012 2nd sp. sess., 2
commonly referred to as the seven best practices in emergency 3
medicine, for the purposes of providing: 4
(i) Prescription monitoring program data to emergency department 5
personnel when the patient registers in the emergency department; and6
(ii) Notice to local health officers who have made opioid-related 7
overdose a notifiable condition under RCW 70.05.070 as authorized by 8
rules adopted under RCW 43.20.050, providers, appropriate care 9
coordination staff, and prescribers listed in the patient's 10
prescription monitoring program record that the patient has 11
experienced a controlled substance overdose event. The department 12
shall determine the content and format of the notice in consultation 13
with the Washington state hospital association, Washington state 14
medical association, and Washington state health care authority, and 15
the notice may be modified as necessary to reflect current needs and 16
best practices;17
(o) The office of the Washington state auditor for the purposes 18
of discharging its statutory and constitutional duties; and19
(p) The joint legislative audit and review committee for the 20
purposes of discharging its statutory duties. 21
(4) The department shall, on at least a quarterly basis, and 22
pursuant to a schedule determined by the department, provide a 23
facility or entity identified under subsection (3)(k) of this section 24
or a provider group identified under subsection (3)(l) of this 25
section with facility or entity and individual prescriber information 26
if the facility, entity, or provider group: 27
(a) Uses the information only for internal quality improvement 28
and individual prescriber quality improvement feedback purposes and 29
does not use the information as the sole basis for any medical staff 30
sanction or adverse employment action; and 31
(b) Provides to the department a standardized list of current 32
prescribers of the facility, entity, or provider group. The specific 33
facility, entity, or provider group information provided pursuant to 34
this subsection and the requirements under this subsection must be 35
determined by the department in consultation with the Washington 36
state hospital association, Washington state medical association, and 37
Washington state health care authority, and may be modified as 38
necessary to reflect current needs and best practices.39
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(5)(a) The department may publish or provide data to public or 1
private entities for statistical, research, or educational purposes 2
after removing information that could be used directly or indirectly 3
to identify individual patients, requestors, dispensers, prescribers, 4
and persons who received prescriptions from dispensers. Direct and 5
indirect patient identifiers may be provided for research that has 6
been approved by the Washington state institutional review board and 7
by the department through a data-sharing agreement.8
(b)(i) The department may provide dispenser and prescriber data 9
and data that includes indirect patient identifiers to the Washington 10
state hospital association for use solely in connection with its 11
coordinated quality improvement program maintained under RCW 12
43.70.510 after entering into a data use agreement as specified in 13
RCW 43.70.052(((8))) (10) with the association. The department may 14
provide dispenser and prescriber data and data that includes indirect 15
patient identifiers to the Washington state medical association for 16
use solely in connection with its coordinated quality improvement 17
program maintained under RCW 43.70.510 after entering into a data use 18
agreement with the association. 19
(ii) The department may provide data including direct and 20
indirect patient identifiers to the department of social and health 21
services office of research and data analysis, the department of 22
labor and industries, and the health care authority for research that 23
has been approved by the Washington state institutional review board 24
and, with a data-sharing agreement approved by the department, for 25
public health purposes to improve the prevention or treatment of 26
substance use disorders. 27
(iii) The department may provide a prescriber feedback report to 28
the largest health professional association representing each of the 29
prescribing professions. The health professional associations must 30
distribute the feedback report to prescribers engaged in the 31
professions represented by the associations for quality improvement 32
purposes, so long as the reports contain no direct patient 33
identifiers that could be used to identify individual patients, 34
dispensers, and persons who received prescriptions from dispensers, 35
and the association enters into a written data-sharing agreement with 36
the department. However, reports may include indirect patient 37
identifiers as agreed to by the department and the association in a 38
written data-sharing agreement. 39
(c) For the purposes of this subsection: 40
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(i) "Indirect patient identifiers" means data that may include: 1
Hospital or provider identifiers, a five-digit zip code, county, 2
state, and country of resident; dates that include month and year; 3
age in years; and race and ethnicity; but does not include the 4
patient's first name; middle name; last name; social security number; 5
control or medical record number; zip code plus four digits; dates 6
that include day, month, and year; or admission and discharge date in 7
combination; and 8
(ii) "Prescribing professions" include: 9
(A) Allopathic physicians and physician assistants;10
(B) Osteopathic physicians; 11
(C) Podiatric physicians; 12
(D) Dentists; and 13
(E) Advanced registered nurse practitioners. 14
(6) The department may enter into agreements to exchange 15
prescription monitoring program data with established prescription 16
monitoring programs in other jurisdictions. Under these agreements, 17
the department may share prescription monitoring system data 18
containing direct and indirect patient identifiers with other 19
jurisdictions through a clearinghouse or prescription monitoring 20
program data exchange that meets federal health care information 21
privacy requirements. Data the department receives from other 22
jurisdictions must be retained, used, protected, and destroyed as 23
provided by the agreements to the extent consistent with the laws in 24
this state. 25
(7) Persons authorized in subsections (3) through (6) of this 26
section to receive data in the prescription monitoring program from 27
the department, acting in good faith, are immune from any civil, 28
criminal, disciplinary, or administrative liability that might 29
otherwise be incurred or imposed for acting under this chapter.30
Sec. 3. RCW 50A.25.070 and 2024 c 54 s 58 are each amended to 31
read as follows: 32
(1) The department may enter into data-sharing contracts and may 33
disclose records and information deemed confidential to state or 34
local government agencies under this chapter only if permitted under 35
subsection (2) of this section and RCW 50A.25.090. A state or local 36
government agency must need the records or information for an 37
official purpose and must also provide: 38
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(a) An application in writing to the department for the records 1
or information containing a statement of the official purposes for 2
which the state or local government agency needs the information or 3
records and specifically identify the records or information sought 4
from the department; and 5
(b) A written verification of the need for the specific 6
information from the director, commissioner, chief executive, or 7
other official of the requesting state or local government agency 8
either on the application or on a separate document.9
(2) The department may disclose information or records deemed 10
confidential under this chapter to the following state or local 11
government agencies: 12
(a) To the department of social and health services to identify 13
child support obligations as defined in RCW 50A.15.080 and for the 14
purposes of administering the department's responsibilities under 15
Title 50B RCW; 16
(b) To the department of revenue to determine potential tax 17
liability or employer compliance with registration and licensing 18
requirements; 19
(c) To the department of labor and industries to compare records 20
or information to detect improper or fraudulent claims;21
(d) To the office of financial management for the purpose of 22
conducting periodic salary or fringe benefit studies pursuant to law 23
or for the actuarial services created under chapter 233, Laws of 24
2022; 25
(e) To the office of the state treasurer and any financial or 26
banking institutions deemed necessary by the office of the state 27
treasurer and the department for the proper administration of funds;28
(f) To the office of the attorney general for purposes of legal 29
representation; 30
(g) To a county clerk for the purpose of RCW 9.94A.760 if 31
requested by the county clerk's office; 32
(h) To the office of administrative hearings for the purpose of 33
administering the administrative appeal process; 34
(i) To the department of enterprise services for the purpose of 35
agency administration and operations; 36
(j) To Washington technology solutions for the purpose of 37
enterprise technology support; 38
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(k) To the health care authority and the office of the state 1
actuary for the purposes of administering the department's 2
responsibilities under Title 50B RCW; 3
(l) To the office of the state actuary for the purpose of 4
performing actuarial services to assess the financial stability and 5
solvency of the family and medical leave program, and specifically 6
the family and medical leave insurance account created in RCW 7
50A.05.070; ((and))8
(m) To the joint legislative audit and review committee, in 9
accordance with RCW 44.28.110, for the purpose of conducting 10
performance audits; and11
(n) To the office of the Washington state auditor for the 12
purposes of discharging its statutory and constitutional obligations.13
(3) The department may also enter into data-sharing agreements 14
with other state or local government agencies solely for the purposes 15
of program evaluation under this title or Title 50B RCW.16
Sec. 4. RCW 13.50.050 and 2014 c 175 s 3 are each amended to 17
read as follows: 18
(1) This section and RCW 13.50.260 and 13.50.270 govern records 19
relating to the commission of juvenile offenses, including records 20
relating to diversions. 21
(2) The official juvenile court file of any alleged or proven 22
juvenile offender shall be open to public inspection, unless sealed 23
pursuant to RCW 13.50.260. 24
(3) All records other than the official juvenile court file are 25
confidential and may be released only as provided in this 26
chapter((,)) and RCW 13.40.215 and 4.24.550. 27
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, records 28
retained or produced by any juvenile justice or care agency may be 29
released to other participants in the juvenile justice or care system 30
only when an investigation or case involving the juvenile in question 31
is being pursued by the other participant or when that other 32
participant is assigned the responsibility for supervising the 33
juvenile. 34
(5) Except as provided in RCW 4.24.550, information not in an 35
official juvenile court file concerning a juvenile or a juvenile's 36
family may be released to the public only when that information could 37
not reasonably be expected to identify the juvenile or the juvenile's 38
family. 39
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(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the 1
release, to the juvenile or his or her attorney, of law enforcement 2
and prosecuting attorneys' records pertaining to investigation, 3
diversion, and prosecution of juvenile offenses shall be governed by 4
the rules of discovery and other rules of law applicable in adult 5
criminal investigations and prosecutions. 6
(7) Upon the decision to arrest or the arrest, law enforcement 7
and prosecuting attorneys may cooperate with schools in releasing 8
information to a school pertaining to the investigation, diversion, 9
and prosecution of a juvenile attending the school. Upon the decision 10
to arrest or the arrest, incident reports may be released unless 11
releasing the records would jeopardize the investigation or 12
prosecution or endanger witnesses. If release of incident reports 13
would jeopardize the investigation or prosecution or endanger 14
witnesses, law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys may release 15
information to the maximum extent possible to assist schools in 16
protecting other students, staff, and school property.17
(8) The juvenile court and the prosecutor may set up and maintain 18
a central recordkeeping system which may receive information on all 19
alleged juvenile offenders against whom a complaint has been filed 20
pursuant to RCW 13.40.070 whether or not their cases are currently 21
pending before the court. The central recordkeeping system may be 22
computerized. If a complaint has been referred to a diversion unit, 23
the diversion unit shall promptly report to the juvenile court or the 24
prosecuting attorney when the juvenile has agreed to diversion. An 25
offense shall not be reported as criminal history in any central 26
recordkeeping system without notification by the diversion unit of 27
the date on which the offender agreed to diversion.28
(9) Upon request of the victim of a crime or the victim's 29
immediate family, the identity of an alleged or proven juvenile 30
offender alleged or found to have committed a crime against the 31
victim and the identity of the alleged or proven juvenile offender's 32
parent, guardian, or custodian and the circumstance of the alleged or 33
proven crime shall be released to the victim of the crime or the 34
victim's immediate family. 35
(10) Subject to the rules of discovery applicable in adult 36
criminal prosecutions, the juvenile offense records of an adult 37
criminal defendant or witness in an adult criminal proceeding shall 38
be released upon request to prosecution and defense counsel after a 39
charge has actually been filed. The juvenile offense records of any 40
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adult convicted of a crime and placed under the supervision of the 1
adult corrections system shall be released upon request to the adult 2
corrections system. 3
(11) Any juvenile to whom the provisions of this section or RCW 4
13.50.260 or 13.50.270 may apply shall be given written notice of his 5
or her rights under this section at the time of his or her 6
disposition hearing or during the diversion process.7
(12) Nothing in this section or RCW 13.50.260 or 13.50.270 may be 8
construed to prevent a crime victim or a member of the victim's 9
family from divulging the identity of the alleged or proven juvenile 10
offender or his or her family when necessary in a civil proceeding.11
(13) Except as provided in RCW 13.50.270(2), no identifying 12
information held by the Washington state patrol in accordance with 13
chapter 43.43 RCW is subject to destruction or sealing under this 14
section. For the purposes of this subsection, identifying information 15
includes photographs, fingerprints, palmprints, soleprints, toeprints 16
and any other data that identifies a person by physical 17
characteristics, name, birthdate or address, but does not include 18
information regarding criminal activity, arrest, charging, diversion, 19
conviction or other information about a person's treatment by the 20
criminal justice system or about the person's behavior.21
(14) Information identifying child victims under age eighteen who 22
are victims of sexual assaults by juvenile offenders is confidential 23
and not subject to release to the press or public without the 24
permission of the child victim or the child's legal guardian. 25
Identifying information includes the child victim's name, addresses, 26
location, photographs, and in cases in which the child victim is a 27
relative of the alleged perpetrator, identification of the 28
relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator. 29
Information identifying a child victim of sexual assault may be 30
released to law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, 31
or private or governmental agencies that provide services to the 32
child victim of sexual assault. 33
(15) For purposes of fulfilling its statutory and constitutional 34
obligations, the office of the Washington state auditor and any 35
employees of the Washington state auditor shall have the authority to 36
examine and inspect all files, records, and accounts. The authority 37
in this subsection extends to accessing any confidential records 38
needed to discharge the auditor's audit duties. However, access to 39
confidential records for the purpose of conducting audits does not 40
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change their confidential nature, and any existing confidentiality 1
requirements shall remain in force and be similarly respected by the 2
auditor and the auditor's employees. 3
(16) For purposes of fulfilling its statutory obligations, the 4
joint legislative audit and review committee and any employees of the 5
committee shall have the authority to examine and inspect all files, 6
records, and accounts. The authority in this subsection extends to 7
accessing any confidential records needed to discharge the 8
committee's audit duties. However, access to confidential records for 9
the purpose of conducting audits does not change their confidential 10
nature, and any existing confidentiality requirements shall remain in 11
force and be similarly respected by the committee and the committee's 12
employees.13
Sec. 5. RCW 13.50.100 and 2020 c 312 s 121 are each amended to 14
read as follows: 15
(1) This section governs records not covered by RCW 13.50.050, 16
13.50.260, and 13.50.270. 17
(2) Records covered by this section shall be confidential and 18
shall be released only pursuant to this section and RCW 13.50.010.19
(3) Records retained or produced by any juvenile justice or care 20
agency may be released to other participants in the juvenile justice 21
or care system only when an investigation or case involving the 22
juvenile in question is being pursued by the other participant or 23
when that other participant is assigned the responsibility of 24
supervising the juvenile. Records covered under this section and 25
maintained by the juvenile courts which relate to the official 26
actions of the agency may be entered in the statewide judicial 27
information system. However, truancy records associated with a 28
juvenile who has no other case history, and records of a juvenile's 29
parents who have no other case history, shall be removed from the 30
judicial information system when the juvenile is no longer subject to 31
the compulsory attendance laws in chapter 28A.225 RCW. A county clerk 32
is not liable for unauthorized release of this data by persons or 33
agencies not in his or her employ or otherwise subject to his or her 34
control, nor is the county clerk liable for inaccurate or incomplete 35
information collected from litigants or other persons required to 36
provide identifying data pursuant to this section.37
(4) Subject to (a) of this subsection, the department of 38
children, youth, and families may release information retained in the 39
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course of conducting child protective services investigations to a 1
family or juvenile court hearing a petition for custody of a minor 2
under chapter 11.130 RCW. 3
(a) Information that may be released shall be limited to 4
information regarding investigations in which: (i) The juvenile was 5
an alleged victim of abandonment or abuse or neglect; or (ii) the 6
petitioner for custody of the juvenile, or any individual aged 7
sixteen or older residing in the petitioner's household, is the 8
subject of a founded or currently pending child protective services 9
investigation made by the department of social and health services or 10
the department of children, youth, and families subsequent to October 11
1, 1998. 12
(b) Additional information may only be released with the written 13
consent of the subject of the investigation and the juvenile alleged 14
to be the victim of abandonment or abuse and neglect, or the parent, 15
custodian, guardian, or personal representative of the juvenile, or 16
by court order obtained with notice to all interested parties.17
(5) Any disclosure of records or information by the department of 18
social and health services or the department of children, youth, and 19
families, pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a waiver of 20
any confidentiality or privilege attached to the records or 21
information by operation of any state or federal statute or 22
regulation, and any recipient of such records or information shall 23
maintain it in such a manner as to comply with such state and federal 24
statutes and regulations and to protect against unauthorized 25
disclosure. 26
(6) A contracting agency or service provider of the department of 27
social and health services or the department of children, youth, and 28
families, that provides counseling, psychological, psychiatric, or 29
medical services may release to the office of the family and 30
children's ombuds information or records relating to services 31
provided to a juvenile who is dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW 32
without the consent of the parent or guardian of the juvenile, or of 33
the juvenile if the juvenile is under the age of thirteen years, 34
unless such release is otherwise specifically prohibited by law.35
(7) A juvenile, his or her parents, the juvenile's attorney, and 36
the juvenile's parent's attorney, shall, upon request, be given 37
access to all records and information collected or retained by a 38
juvenile justice or care agency which pertain to the juvenile except:39
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(a) If it is determined by the agency that release of this 1
information is likely to cause severe psychological or physical harm 2
to the juvenile or his or her parents the agency may withhold the 3
information subject to other order of the court: PROVIDED, That if 4
the court determines that limited release of the information is 5
appropriate, the court may specify terms and conditions for the 6
release of the information; or 7
(b) If the information or record has been obtained by a juvenile 8
justice or care agency in connection with the provision of 9
counseling, psychological, psychiatric, or medical services to the 10
juvenile, when the services have been sought voluntarily by the 11
juvenile, and the juvenile has a legal right to receive those 12
services without the consent of any person or agency, then the 13
information or record may not be disclosed to the juvenile's parents 14
without the informed consent of the juvenile unless otherwise 15
authorized by law; or 16
(c) That the department of children, youth, and families or the 17
department of social and health services may delete the name and 18
identifying information regarding persons or organizations who have 19
reported alleged child abuse or neglect. 20
(8) A juvenile or his or her parent denied access to any records 21
following an agency determination under subsection (7) of this 22
section may file a motion in juvenile court requesting access to the 23
records. The court shall grant the motion unless it finds access may 24
not be permitted according to the standards found in subsection 25
(7)(a) and (b) of this section. 26
(9) The person making a motion under subsection (8) of this 27
section shall give reasonable notice of the motion to all parties to 28
the original action and to any agency whose records will be affected 29
by the motion. 30
(10) Subject to the rules of discovery in civil cases, any party 31
to a proceeding seeking a declaration of dependency or a termination 32
of the parent-child relationship and any party's counsel and the 33
guardian ad litem of any party, shall have access to the records of 34
any natural or adoptive child of the parent, subject to the 35
limitations in subsection (7) of this section. A party denied access 36
to records may request judicial review of the denial. If the party 37
prevails, he or she shall be awarded attorneys' fees, costs, and an 38
amount not less than five dollars and not more than one hundred 39
dollars for each day the records were wrongfully denied.40
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(11) No unfounded allegation of child abuse or neglect as defined 1
in RCW 26.44.020(1) may be disclosed to a child-placing agency, 2
private adoption agency, or any other licensed provider.3
(12) For purposes of fulfilling its statutory and constitutional 4
obligations, the office of the Washington state auditor and any 5
employees of the Washington state auditor shall have the authority to 6
examine and inspect all files, records, and accounts. The authority 7
in this subsection extends to accessing any confidential records 8
needed to discharge the auditor's audit duties. However, access to 9
confidential records for the purpose of conducting audits does not 10
change their confidential nature, and any existing confidentiality 11
requirements shall remain in force and be similarly respected by the 12
auditor and the auditor's employees.13
(13) For purposes of fulfilling its statutory obligations, the 14
joint legislative audit and review committee and any employees of the 15
committee shall have the authority to examine and inspect all files, 16
records, and accounts. The authority in this subsection extends to 17
accessing any confidential records needed to discharge the 18
committee's audit duties. However, access to confidential records for 19
the purpose of conducting audits does not change their confidential 20
nature, and any existing confidentiality requirements shall remain in 21
force and be similarly respected by the committee and the committee's 22
employees.23
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