Auditors can't have gifts

The State Auditor's Office has had a long-standing ban on gifts to auditors.

The policy extends to all employees of the office and precludes all but a few narrow exceptions for nominal, token items that could arise out of a speech or service on a board. Gov. Beverly Perdue's executive order bans gifts to all state employees in her administration

The ban specifically precludes gifts from anyone associated with agencies or entities that are audited by the office, said Dennis Patterson, a spokesman for Auditor Beth Wood. Even a small gift to an auditor would be enough to have an audit re-assigned, he said.

"Our folks are pretty tight on it," Patterson said. "The whole idea of being an auditor is you are a totally independent third party...and I can tell you they take it very seriously."

The office also extends the state's ethics law to senior managers who might not have otherwise been covered by the law. Patterson said the office is unlikely to change its policy in light of Perdue's order.