Internal audit outlines Knox County complaint process; committee vows clearer public navigation

Knox County internal audit officials briefed the Ethics Committee subcommittee on Jan. 14 about how the county receives and handles complaints of fraud, waste and abuse and agreed to work with the committee to make those reporting pathways easier for the public to find.

"We have an online portal and a phone line," said Zach Fullerton, an internal auditor, describing the countyomplaint intake. Fullerton said each submission creates a case file in the county
udit software Highbond and that staff document actions taken on every case. "Everything we do goes into Highbond," he said.

Fullerton described a triage process: if a complaint falls within fraud, waste or abuse the audit office will investigate; if it is employment-related it may be routed to county HR or a school istrictmployee process; certain matters are referred to the Sheriff's Office professional standards. "If it does raise to a criminal nexus
ppears, we statutorily have to start working with the Tennessee Comptroller's Office," Fullerton said, adding that state-level investigations assume primary ownership and have heightened confidentiality.

Committee members asked how the public can find the correct avenue to report concerns and whether anonymous tips are handled. Fullerton said audit receives anonymous submissions by web, phone, mail and dropped notes and will try to route them to the appropriate office when facts exist to act on. "We maybe 15 complaints a year," he said, noting that election years can increase volume.

Members pressed for clearer online guidance. "If I'm a member of the public and I don't know what to do, do we have a who-do-I-call on the page?" the chair asked. Committee members and Fullerton agreed to review both the ethics committee and internal audit web pages and to add clearer links, contact numbers and guidance so citizens can be directed to HR, internal audit or other appropriate partners.

Fullerton said audit posts final reports to its website and suggested including top-line facts and staff contact information to help citizens. The committee discussed adding a link on the ethics page to the audit hotline and adding a quick indereature to steer callers to the correct office.

The subcommittee did not change formal policy at the meeting but directed staff to return in two weeks with website review suggestions and to continue coordinating across HR, internal audit and the ethics committee to improve public access to complaint channels.