The St. Louis County Council voted this week to terminate the county's auditor, according to a council member.
Government officials on Friday confirmed that auditor Toni Jackson was no longer employed by the county.
Council member Lisa Clancy of Maplewood said the council voted to fire Jackson because she was not producing enough audits.
“I think there's been growing concern from the council that the auditor was not completing work with an unprecedented amount of staff and resources,” she said.
The county’s auditor is in charge of reviewing the government’s accounting, scrutinizing employee records and investigating the use of public funds.
Clancy said the council wanted Jackson to produce an audit of the county’s performance after former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger resigned when facing fraud and bribery allegations. (Stenger later pleaded guilty to the charges.)
The office never completed that audit.
“I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that the council has had some increased scrutiny over this office since the [Steve] Stenger days,” Clancy said. “We had high expectations, and the office was not able to deliver on those under [Jackson’s] leadership.”
The auditor portion of the county website shows that two performance reports have been published since Jackson took over in 2021.
One, in 2022, evaluated the management of a program that incentivized county residents to get the coronavirus vaccine by distributing gift cards. The other, in 2024, investigated timesheet fraud among employees at the Department of Public Health.
Clancy said the council expects the auditor to produce approximately three audits annually.
The council has not lined up an interim auditor or replacement, she said.
