DES MOINES, IOWA (October 24, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has released the following statement responding to the State Auditor’s oversight that shorted the office more than $7.2 million for serving crime victims:
“The State Auditor’s total failure to address a nearly $53 million misallocation of funds has cost the entire state. My office’s Crime Victim Compensation Fund was shorted more than $7.2 million for crime victim services such as sexual-assault examinations, counseling, medical reimbursement, and lost wages that survivors depend on. No domestic-violence victim should have to stay with their abuser because they cannot afford to leave. The State’s self-proclaimed ‘tax-payer watchdog’ failed at the most basic job of being an auditor: Conducting an audit. Crime victims should not have to worry about whether victim services will be there when they need them.”
