Massachusetts General Laws ch. 12A sec. 12 – Annual and interim reports
Section 12. The office of inspector general shall, not later than April thirtieth of each year, prepare a report summarizing the activities of the office for the prior calendar year. The office of inspector general may also prepare interim reports. These reports shall be forwarded to the governor, president of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, the chairman of the house and senate committees on ways and means, the executive director of the legislative post-audit committee and the secretary of administration and shall be made available to the public.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 12A sec. 12
- Federal prosecutor: A lawyer appointed by the President in each judicial district to prosecute and defend cases for the federal government.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
The report shall include, but not be limited to: a description of significant problems in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse within programs and operations within the jurisdiction of the office; a description of the recommendations for corrective action made by the office during the reporting period with respect to significant deficiencies in the areas of fraud, waste and abuse; the identification of each significant recommendation described in previous annual reports on which corrective action has not been completed; a summary of matters referred to prosecutive authorities and the prosecutions and convictions which have resulted; a summary of any matters concerning the recovery of monies as a result of civil suit by the office of inspector general or a referral to another agency for the purposes of such suit; a list of each audit report completed by the office during the reporting period; a statement of recommendations of amendments to this chapter or the rules, regulations or procedures governing the office of inspector general which would improve the effectiveness or the operation of the office of inspector general.
A copy of such report to the general court shall be forwarded to the head or governing body of each public body referred to in the report from whom the inspector general requires a response.
The head or governing body of, each public body may, within sixty days of receipt of such report, comment upon any references to such agency contained within such report. Such comment, if any, shall be forwarded to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairman of the house and senate committees on ways and means, the executive director of the legislative post-audit committee, the secretary of administration, and the office of inspector general.
The report of the inspector general shall be made public on the day of filing; provided, however, that the report shall not list the names of individuals or corporations nor describe them with such sufficient particularity as to readily identify them to the general public in those cases in which no official disposition has been made by the office of inspector general or the office of attorney general or the federal prosecutor.