The State Auditor’s Office released a report that found the Secretary of State’s Office had a difference of $75,211 from revenue generated through various citizen fees. Some examples of the fees collected through the Secretary of State’s Office include:

• Licensing fees

• Notary fees

• Election-related fees

• Registration fees

• Agricultural statutory liens

The Secretary of State manages fees charged to citizens through three major information technology systems. Revenue collections are recorded on these three systems, and then a manual deposit is reported to ConnectND, North Dakota’s internal accounting system. Because of the systems not being reconciled, revenue could potentially be unaccounted for in ConnectND.

“These dollars are generated by fees that are charged to North Dakota citizens,” said State Auditor Joshua Gallion. “It’s critical that government entities accurately track money collected from the people they serve.”

This audit is a result of the State Auditor’s Office statutory responsibility to audit or review each state agency once every two years. The complete audit report for the two-year audit period ended June 30, 2020, can be found here.