JEFFERSON CITY — The last Democrat to hold statewide office in Missouri won a lawsuit Thursday that began as a politically charged feud between her and Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
Cole County Circuit Court Jon Beetem ruled Thursday that a state board that regulates accountants does not have any oversight of the state auditor’s office.
“The Board of Accountancy has no jurisdiction over the performance of the constitutional or statutory duties of the State Auditor’s Office,” Beetem wrote in his 18-page decision.
The 2021 court case stems from a fight that began when Nicole Galloway, who was state auditor at the time, released scathing audits of Hawley’s short tenure as attorney general before he became senator.
Galloway, who left office in January and was replaced by Republican Scott Fitzpatrick, issued audits showing Hawley may have misused state resources to benefit his successful 2018 campaign against former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat. Fitzpatrick was the state treasurer when he was elected auditor.
Another audit said Hawley’s office overspent on travel and did not give prior approval to paying employees for relocation expenses.
One finding showed Hawley used a state vehicle and a driver for some trips without documenting the purpose of the trip. A driver told the auditor that on Dec. 16, 2017, he drove Hawley and his wife, Erin, to Kansas City for a Chiefs football game.
In response, Hawley called on the state Board of Accountancy to investigate Galloway for any violations of her accountant’s certification. The seven-member board, which includes four members who are serving on expired terms, began a probe in 2020.
The vice president of the board, Nick Myers of Joplin, is chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.
Galloway, who made an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2020, filed suit after she said investigators erroneously interpreted a section of law regarding audits that could allow people being audited to alter or weaken audits, as well as endanger the accounting licenses of workers in her office.
The lawsuit also said the board’s interpretation of the law could limit what kind of information an auditor could give to law enforcement agencies when the auditor uncovers crimes in the course of the office’s work.
And the lawsuit argued that the board’s decision would alter the relationship between the auditor and those being audited, giving state agencies and state officers the ability to potentially block the auditor from reporting crimes.
In the ruling, Beetem noted that 80 criminal counts have resulted from investigations by the auditor dating to 2015.
The board attempted to dismiss the case after Galloway left office, but Fitzpatrick kept the case alive in a bid to gain clarity about the disagreements.
Beetem shot down the board’s contention that it had any power over how the state auditor’s office does its work.
He said the state auditor is not required to obtain the consent of a public entity before releasing any information about an audit report. Nor, he added, are the subjects of audits allowed to intervene and shield audit results from the public.
“The Board of Accountancy has no authority to determine what information the State Auditor includes in a public report,” Beetem wrote.
Galloway, who now works for an investment firm in Columbia, could not be reached for comment.
But, Chris Sloan, her 2020 gubernatorial campaign manager, said the decision marked “a good day for Nicole Galloway and for Missourians across the state who also care about honesty and integrity in state government.”
“This verdict proves that the actions of the Board of Accountancy were always a partisan charade meant to weaponize the government in an election year, unnecessarily costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Sloan said.
Sloan added that Gov. Mike Parson should call for the resignation of Myers from the board “in order to begin repairing its tarnished reputation.”
Fitzpatrick called the decision a win for the office.
“This ruling affirms my position, and that of the former administration, that government entities subject to a state audit do not have veto power over the State Auditor’s decisions about what information will be included in public reports pursuant to the audits we conduct,” Fitzpatrick said.
The decision could be appealed. A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office did not immediately return a message Thursday.
Representatives of Hawley were reviewing the ruling and did not have an immediate response.
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