Office of the Attorney General

This is a performance audit of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office covering July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, we conducted a performance audit at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for the period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012.”

Auditors reviewed whether the office had proper internal controls, including controls over revenue, spending, public charity operations, fixed assets, and computer access.

“Our audit was initiated to determine whether the AGO’s internal control structure was suitably designed and to assess the adequacy of controls over its operations, including internal controls over financial records pertaining to revenue and expenditures.”

The Attorney General's Office handles lawsuits involving the Commonwealth and manages sensitive case information, public money, and state property.

“The AGO is responsible for representing the Commonwealth in all lawsuits and civil proceedings in which the Commonwealth is an interested party.”

For an ordinary resident, the audit is about whether a major state office is protecting public money, state equipment, and sensitive legal information properly.

“The AGO’s case-management system consists of separate application modules used to manage information related to civil and criminal cases.”

The biggest problem was that former employees still appeared on active user lists, including some with high-level access, even though auditors found no evidence of unauthorized access.

“Our test of system access security controls revealed that 143 former AGO employees, including 56 with high-level access privileges to the AGO’s case-management database system, remained on the active user list.”

The findings matter because weak controls can increase the risk of lost checks, lost revenue, unauthorized internal access, or poor tracking of state assets.

“Without the AGO’s performing an annual physical inventory and reconciliation and adhering to the OSC Fixed Asset Accounting and Management Policy, there is the potential for Commonwealth assets to be improperly safeguarded against loss, theft, or misuse and the inability to verify that its inventory system of record and the Fixed Asset Subsystem are complete, accurate, and up to date.”

A 'GAAP fixed asset' means a significant long-term item the state owns, such as land, buildings, vehicles, equipment, or computer systems, that must be recorded and tracked under accounting rules.

“The Commonwealth defines GAAP fixed assets as all tangible property (real and personal) such as land, buildings, computer software and systems, landmarks, infrastructure and equipment, etc., with a useful life of more than one year.”