Todd County conducting audit
By Jennie Zeitler, Staff Writer
jennie.zeitler@ecm-inc.com
Todd County Commissioners authorized an audit at a special meeting held Tuesday. County Administrator Nathan Burkett is the husband of former Long Prairie Chamber director Kim Burkett, who has been charged with two counts of felony theft of Chamber funds.
“Mr. Burkett requested in writing that the county do an audit on all transactions,” said County Commissioner David Kircher. “We have no suspicions about anything, but Mr. Burkett wants his name cleared.”
“There seems to be a public concept that there might be something wrong with the county’s financial condition, and we want to take away that concept,” said County Board Chair Gerald Ruda. “We want to remove any doubt as to any wrongdoing. We are documenting the fact that there is nothing out of the ordinary between Todd County and Mr. Burkett.”
Burkett’s access to a variety of computer applications, including any cash transactions, was limited by the county’s Computer Technology Department. Kircher said, “I feel comfortable that there is nothing wrong.”
Ruda said, “I have complete confidence in the county’s financial condition.”
It is not known when the audit will be completed, nor which company or agency will be conducting the audit.
“This is going to cost the taxpayers some money, but it was requested by Mr. Burkett and some county residents, so we’re going to go ahead with it,” said Kircher.
