BISMARCK, N.D. (PPR) – Legislators from District 28 have sponsored a bill to prohibit the state auditor from collecting fees from any firefighters’ relief association, any rural fire protection district or rural ambulance service district for auditing or reviewing documents.

This comes after an audit found the Gwinner Rural Fire Protection District spent more than $28,000 on alcohol, groceries and golf outings for staff and volunteers between 2015 and 2020 – something the audit said may violate state law, since it considers the money as public funds. In its response, the Fire District said the money was generated by a “gun raffle,” and were not tax dollars collected by the country or the state.

The bill also would make it retroactive to Dec. 31st, 2017, meaning the auditor’s office will have to refund the fees.

The lead sponsor is Republican Representative Mike Brandenburg of Edgeley. He says not only was the Gwinner Fire Protection District left with a more than $11,000 bill for the audit, the publicity around the audit makes that District’s board look like criminals – which he says isn’t fair.

State Auditor Josh Gallion says the state’s Constitution does not allow for these kinds of purchases, which benefit individuals.

Gallion says his agency does not receive state tax dollars – it is a special-fund agency, and has to charge local governments for those audits.

A hearing on the measure will be held in the House Political Subdivisions Committee on Thursday, January 12th.