The Legislative Audit Council (LAC) is the oversight agency of the South Carolina General Assembly. We perform independent, objective performance audits of state operations. Our work is central to ensuring accountability in the management of public resources. We are governed by a Board composed of five public members and four legislative members. The public members, one of whom must be a CPA and one an attorney, are elected in a joint session of the General Assembly and serve six-year terms. The legislative members, who serve ex officio, are the chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees, or their designees. The Director of the LAC is appointed by the Board members and serves four-year terms. Our audit staff includes CPAs and attorneys. All audit staff have earned advanced degrees and/or professional certification with backgrounds in business, economics, law, public administration, and policy analysis. When the LAC was established in 1975 under S.C. Code §2-15-10 et seq., the South Carolina General Assembly intended that it be free from partisan politics. Thus, by law, any member of the General Assembly, or anyone having served in the preceding two years, cannot be elected as a public member. Only the public members can vote on issues relating to audits or personnel. To further ensure that our work is independent, audits are conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States and endorsed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants