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Auditor Fitzpatrick announces the start of a petition audit of the City of Willard

07/29/2025 - JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.

At the request of concerned residents of the City of Willard, Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has started an audit of the municipality located in Southwest Missouri. The audit was initiated by residents, who collected 406 certified signatures to trigger the petition audit process.

"I sincerely appreciate the time and effort taken by the citizens of Willard who understand that an audit is an important tool to help improve transparency and accountability in their city government. Given some of the turbulent events the city has experienced in recent years, I think this is a great opportunity to perform a thorough review that will give citizens a better understanding of how their city is performing and how it can improve," said Auditor Fitzpatrick. 

Residents of the City of Willard needed 386 valid signatures to trigger the audit and were able to collect 406. The audit petition was initiated by citizens who were concerned with events that took place in 2023 when the city saw the former mayor, who was then serving as an alderman, resign. He was later charged and found guilty of a $300,000 fraud scheme at his primary place of employment, which resulted in a three-year federal prison sentence. 

The City of Willard was last audited by the Missouri State Auditor's Office in 2010. That report found, among other things, that the accounting records maintained by the city were inaccurate, the city did not adequately segregate accounting duties, and the city's Park Fund was in poor financial condition. 

Individuals may provide confidential information for consideration during the audit of the City of Willard to the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline by dialing 800-347-8597, by emailing moaudit@auditor.mo.gov, or by visiting www.auditor.mo.gov/hotline.

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