Legislative Audit Commission

The Legislative Audit Commission (LAC) is a bi-partisan commission with 6 members from the House of Representatives and 6 from the Senate, equally divided between the majority and minority parties.
The commission appoints the Legislative Auditor and selects topics for the Program Evaluation Division to review. It also periodically holds hearings to review audit and evaluation reports.

OLA works with many legislators and legislative committees, but it directly reports to the Legislative Audit Commission. The commission is bicameral and bipartisan, with equal representation from the House and Senate and the two major political parties.

One of the commission’s most important responsibilities is to appoint the Legislative Auditor, who serves a six-year term. The commission also must approve topics for OLA to evaluate and may request specific audits or investigations. The commission may direct the Legislative Auditor to evaluate any state or metropolitan department or agency, or “any program or activity established or funded, in whole or in part, by the state.” See Minnesota Statutes, 3.97 and Minnesota Statutes, 3.971, subd. 7.

While the Commission selects evaluation topics, evaluations—and audits and special reviews—are conducted independently by OLA’s professional staff, and the resulting reports are solely the responsibility of OLA. Legislators do not review OLA reports before they are made public.

OLA often releases its reports at meetings of the Legislative Audit Commission. In addition, OLA staff often present reports to House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the agency or program reviewed.