Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor issued its third fraud investigation report in less than a decade for the town of Springdale, population 300.
The IT system used to distribute funding to Washington’s 300 schools and districts, serving 1 million students, is both critical to public education and extremely complex.
Washington’s police officers are far from completing training mandated by Initiative 940, a new performance audit found.
The initiative, which became the Law Enforcement Training and Community Safety Act, requires 40 hours of continuing training for law enforcement officers. The state Criminal Justice Training Commission developed a curriculum that includes:
Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor released its massive annual audit of federal funds, which reviewed $23.7 billion in federal funds across 28 programs.
Auditors found a general pattern of improved compliance with federal requirements overall. SAO also determined that the state’s system to detect improper payments in child care subsidies has weaknesses that contributed to an estimated $37 million in questionable payments in 2025.
The Office of the Washington State Auditor published an accountability audit of the Moses Lake School District today, reviewing a tumultuous period in which the district’s financial condition was in decline.
“The public is understandably frustrated,” said State Auditor Pat McCarthy. “As a former school board member, I want to recognize the important role the public plays in holding the District and elected board members accountable to ensure local public schools, a keystone of community life, remain operational and financially stable.”
The Washington State Patrol’s investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis mostly followed state rules intended to ensure the agency’s work was credible, according to an audit published today (PDF).
A program intended to help underserved people access online services repeatedly failed to follow state guidance – and at times intentionally ignored grant requirements, a new performance audit found: Assessing the Department of Commerce's Management of the Digital Navigator Program (PDF).
This article originally appeared in the 1/20/26 edition of the Seattle Times and reflects the viewpoint of State Auditor Pat McCarthy.
Update: On 1/29/26 our Office published a FAQ page of answers to questions about child care subsidies.
Several courts in Washington are interested in expanding alternatives to bail, but they appear to use such pretrial services infrequently today and face barriers to doing more, a new performance audit found.