Georgia lawmakers are considering bills that would overhaul DeKalb County’s oversight, ethics and purchasing practices.
Legislation introduced last week would require an independent internal auditor, a full-time ethics officer and stricter contracting requirements.
An internal auditor position, responsible for finding fraud and improving government efficiency, has been discussed by DeKalb commissioners for years without the job being filled. But Senate Bill 121 would mandate the position through state law.
“This is a critical function to ensure citizens’ trust in their government,” said Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, the bill’s sponsor. “It gives the ability to all of us taxpayers to have a level of assurance about where money is being spent, and that’s been an issue recently with county government.”
The measure calls for the creation of the Office of Internal Audit that would be independent from the county CEO and commission.
The auditor would be appointed by a majority vote of the commission from a list of two or three candidates provided by an audit oversight committee. The committee would be made up of two members selected by the commission, one member by the CEO, one member by the chairperson of DeKalb’s delegation to the Georgia Senate and one member by the chairperson of DeKalb’s delegation to the Georgia House.
The ethics legislation, Senate Bill 118, would establish a full-time ethics officer and require that Board of Ethics members be appointed by community groups instead of county commissioners and the county CEO. The Board of Ethics would be chosen by the DeKalb Bar Association, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, the DeKalb legislative delegation, the judge of the DeKalb Probate Court, Leadership DeKalb, DeKalb colleges and universities, and the chief judge of DeKalb Superior Court. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain.
The measure to change DeKalb's contracting practices, Senate Bill 120, would allow the county commission to approve purchasing policies established by the county CEO. The legislation, also sponsored by Parent, would require sealed bids for all purchases exceeding $50,000, and commission approval for all purchases exceeding $100,000.
All three of these bills are based on recommendations of the DeKalb Operations Task Force, a group of elected officials and community leaders that reviewed structural reforms for the county. Both Parent and Butler were members of the task force.
These bills are pending before the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee.
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