DeKalb Residents To Oversee ‘Independent’ County Auditor

A group of DeKalb County residents will soon oversee county audits. As a result of a new state law, DeKalb is searching for five residents with accounting or auditing experience to serve on an audit oversight committee.

Committee members will recommend candidates for an auditor. According to House Bill 599, the auditor is supposed to remain independent of the county’s CEO, board of commissioners or any other department or county official. Once DeKalb commissioners select that person, the auditor will submit a schedule and eventually preliminary audit reports to the committee for review and comment. County policy analyst Antwyn Brown says the committee will help ensure the audit process remains free of political influence.

“Because basically you would have residents who, for the most part, are selected based on their qualifications, and they are totally separate from those elected officials who serve policy makers in the county currently,” Brown said.