Title 35
Public Finance

Chapter 7.1
The Office of Internal Audit and Program Integrity

§ 35-7.1-2. Duties.

(a) The chief of internal audit and program integrity shall supervise, coordinate, and/or conduct audits, civil and administrative investigations, and inspections or oversight reviews, when necessary, relating to expenditure of state or federal funds, or to any and all state programs and operations, as well as the procurement of any supplies, services, or construction, by public bodies. In the course of an audit or investigation, the office of internal audit and program integrity shall review statutes and regulations of the public body and shall determine if such a public body is in compliance and shall make recommendations concerning the efficiency of operations, and the effect of such statutes or regulations on internal controls and the prevention and detection of fraud, waste, and abuse. The chief of internal audit and program integrity may recommend policies or procedures that may strengthen internal controls, or assist in the prevention or detection of fraud, waste, and abuse or mismanagement.

(b) The person, or persons, with legal authority for any public body may request the assistance of the office of internal audit and program integrity. Any such request must include the scope of services requested and the work to be performed. In such events, the chief, with the approval of the director of management and budget, may assign personnel to conduct, supervise, or coordinate such activity as deemed necessary and appropriate to perform their duties in a diligent and prudent manner. The expenses for any such assistance requested by the public body shall be reimbursed by the public body to the office of internal audit and program integrity. The chief may recommend policies for the conduct, supervision, or coordination of the relationship, between state and other state, local governmental agencies as well as federal governmental agencies and nongovernmental entities with respect to all matters relating to the prevention and detection of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in or relating to any and all programs and activities of the state of Rhode Island.

(c) When it is determined by the office of internal audit and program integrity that an audit is necessary because there is sufficient evidence to believe that there may have been fiscal impropriety, wrongdoing, or fiscal mismanagement by any agent, employee, board member, or commissioner of any public body, the office of internal audit and program integrity may conduct a forensic examination of such entity. All costs associated with the forensic examination shall be paid, as deemed appropriate, either by the examined entity or by an appropriation by the general assembly. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to, the following expenses:

(1) One hundred percent (100%) of the total salaries and benefits paid to the examining personnel of the office of internal audit and program integrity engaged in those examinations;

(2) All costs associated with the procurement of a forensic consultant;

(3) All costs associated with a consultant that provides expertise pertinent to the examinee’s operations;

(4) All reasonable administrative and technology costs related to the forensic examination process. Technology costs shall include the actual cost of software and hardware utilized in the examination process and the cost of training examination personnel in the proper use of the software and hardware.

(d) The chief of internal audit and program integrity, or their designee, may investigate reports of any person who, either prior to, or at the time of, or subsequent to the application for public assistance:

(1) Willfully makes a false statement or misrepresentation;

(2) Impersonates someone else;

(3) Willfully fails to disclose a material fact regarding eligibility or other fraudulent means; or

(4) Secures, aids, or abets, or attempts to secure, aid, or abet, others in securing public assistance (including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid) through fraudulent actions.

(e) The chief of internal audit and program integrity, or their designee, is authorized to:

(1) Coordinate, conduct, and/or support investigations aimed at preventing and detecting, fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in public assistance programs;

(2) Coordinate and support state and local efforts to investigate and eliminate fraud in public assistance programs;

(3) Work to recover both state and federal funds related to fraudulent activities.

(f) In the course of these investigations, the office of internal audit and program integrity shall collaborate with local law enforcement agencies, the Rhode Island department of human services, the Rhode Island state police, the Rhode Island attorney general, or other local, state, and federal entities as needed to complete the investigations.

(g) The office shall identify methods to implement innovative technology and data sharing in order to detect, analyze, and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.