AL HB131

Creates a new Department of Examiners of Public Accounts under Chapter 5A of Title 41, replacing the existing Chapter 5, with the chief examiner serving a 5-year term appointed and supervised by the Legislative Committee on Public Accounts.

Chief examiner must be confirmed by the Senate, cannot have been a partisan political candidate within 4 years, and is automatically removed if they hold political office or serve on a political party committee during their term.

Chief examiner must post a $100,000 bond and may appoint an assistant chief examiner (who must be a certified public accountant if the chief examiner is not), three division heads, a chief legal counsel, and two assistant legal counsels.

Authorizes the department to contract with private recovery auditors to identify and recover overpayments made by state agencies, with auditor compensation capped at 15 percent of recovered amounts and a 90-day waiting period before auditing payments.

Makes knowingly providing false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements in audits a Class C felony and establishes penalties of up to $250 per week for officers who fail to comply with prescribed accounting systems.