WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTION WORTH A FIGHT

One important lesson I've learned from being state auditor for the last 11 years is that sometimes you have to fight for your principles.

As you may know, when I conduct audits around the state, I frequently ask taxpayers, government employees and other people to provide me with tips when I conduct an audit of a government office or agency. I promise the people who provide these tips to me that their names will remain confidential. As a result, often times whistle-blowers will call my office and turn information over regarding a waste of tax dollars or a possible illegality occurring in a public office.

As state auditor, I have made it my job to keep this type of information confidential, just as I have promised these people I would. As long as confidentiality is assured, people will continue to provide information that helps me do my audits. The bottom line: This guarantee of confidentiality is a benefit to the taxpayers of Missouri, because it helps find waste, fraud and abuse in government and report it to the public.

A few weeks ago, some employees of the Missouri General Assembly came to my office and demanded that I turn over to them files containing the names and other identifying information of people who have contacted my office over the years with whistle-blower information. As you can imagine, I was amazed that the General Assembly would actually ask me to turn the confidential sources over to its employees. Surely, I thought, legislators would recognize that I have promised these people that their names would remain confidential and would never be turned over to anyone outside my office.

Unfortunately, the General Assembly, led by a committee chaired by Rep. Don Prost, D-Caruthersville, has tried to rummage through my files and strip away the confidentiality of these sources. But before employees of the Missouri General Assembly ever got the chance to get into these files, I filed a lawsuit to keep them out. That lawsuit is pending before the court. My lawsuit contends that the Legislature has no constitutional or statutory authority to get access to these confidential sources.

It is unfortunate that I have had to go to court, but I believe this is a battle for the future independence of the state auditor's office. When the General Assembly's employees came into my office and demanded access to these files, it became clear to me that the General Assembly doesn't like taxpayers and others contacting my office. But instead of intimidating me, what they got was a fight. The way I see it, sometimes you must fight for what is right. And protecting the taxpayers is the right thing to do.

Margaret Kelly is Missouri's state auditor.