Officials in Starke County continue to strive to get the county’s accounting records in order and up to date; as the county has now been designated as “Unauditable” by the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
County officials have been actively working on reconciliation since late 2025, following the discovery that there were multiple years’ worth of reconciliation work that had not been done.
At this week’s County Commissioner’s meeting, held on Monday evening, Starke County Treasurer Kelly Graham shared updates with Commissioners in regards to the ongoing efforts and the designation from the state.
Graham stated that the county had received a letter from the state of Indiana declaring the county “unauditable”. She said the State Board of Accounts would be returning at the end of this month, June 30th, and that her office hoped to have 2025’s reconciliation finished by that point; with a subsequent visit from the State Board of Accounts scheduled to take place on August 12th.
Commissioners were asked what impact this could potentially have on the community. After discussion, Commissioner Mike VanDeMark stated, ““I think the goal is to be done by June 30th and in that short period of time, it doesn’t sound like the impact’s going to be too bad. If this were to go on for six months, I think there could be a significant impact. But I think if we can be done, which I think is the goal and all efforts are being put towards this, I don’t think the impact will be that severe.”
According to the State Board of Accounts, Starke County is currently the only county in the state listed as Unauditable. The Board of Accounts says that an entity has 90 days to correct the issues.
