Audit Finds Repeat Failures at Attorney General’s Office, From a Stalled Software Deal to Unsupported Leave

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews

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ANNAPOLIS — State auditors say the Office of the Attorney General paid for a case management system that is still not fully implemented, failed to publish most large contract awards the auditors tested, and could not support nearly 1,900 hours of adjusted leave. Two of the report’s four findings repeat problems flagged in a May 2023 audit. The Office of Legislative Audits report became public Oct. 20, two weeks before Election Day, with Attorney General Anthony Brown facing Republican Jim Rutledge.

The audit covers June 16, 2022 through Feb. 28, 2026. That began before Brown took office in January 2023, so it spans two administrations. The office agreed with each of the report’s recommendations, and auditors concluded its planned corrective actions are sufficient to address the issues. That does not mean the fixes are finished. The report does not allege theft or fraud.

The four findings

• Case management system (repeat finding). A $3.6 million contract procured in 2017 expired in June 2025 after the office paid the vendor $1.8 million. As of April 2026, seven years after the original estimated implementation date, the system had not been implemented in one division and was only partly implemented in another. Auditors said the office paid $475,000 in implementation costs during the audit period that should not have been paid until the system was fully implemented. The office did not get the required transition plan before the contract ended, and it did not pursue damages against the vendor. Management told auditors it believed it was partly responsible because it had not adequately monitored the contract.

• Outside counsel. Auditors said the office lacked adequate procedures and controls for how state agencies procure and use outside law firms. It had 120 contracts with 97 firms. All 13 invoices tested were paid by direct voucher, which bypassed certain online controls. Seven of the nine tested Department of Juvenile Services invoices, about $6.4 million, combined multiple cases without per-case costs. Seven invoices included about $419,400 for personnel who were not part of the contract, so their rates could not be matched to contracted rates. The report does not say the work was not performed.

• Contract awards. State regulations require awards over $100,000 to be published on eMaryland Marketplace Advantage within 30 days. Of 13 such awards, totaling about $4.5 million, 11 worth $4.2 million were not published. That included seven sole-source awards totaling $2.2 million.

• Timesheets and leave (repeat finding). In 16 tested timesheets, 360 hours were not entered, and 702 were not marked as submitted. Four employees had 117 leave hours that were never deducted from their balances. For two of 10 tested leave adjustments, covering 1,875 hours worth about $131,400, the office could not document that the adjustments were proper. That is a documentation failure, not a finding that employees took unearned leave. Eleven of 24 employees named in the prior report still had unsubmitted time as of March 27, 2026.

What happened on Brown’s watch

Brown took office in January 2023, and the prior audit was dated May 25, 2023. According to the report, the office said it would address the earlier software recommendations by June 2023. Auditors found they were not implemented, and management cited staff turnover. The report also says the office did not disclose the ongoing vendor problems to the Board of Public Works when it requested approval for a second contract renewal option in June 2023. Maryland Matters reported that the board approved the extension at a cost of $475,000, and that auditors said the money should have been withheld until the system was fully implemented.

Some of the underlying problems predate Brown, including the 2017 contract. The point for voters is narrower. Problems the office had already been told about in May 2023 were still open when this audit ended in 2026.

The $62.6 million question

Auditors counted about $62.6 million paid by 53 state agencies to 54 of the 97 outside firms from June 16, 2022 through May 31, 2026. Maryland Matters reported that five agencies accounted for more than 60 percent of the legal fees auditors tracked, nearly $40 million. The report cautions that the figures may not reflect each agency’s true outside counsel costs, partly because some agencies paid legal expenses for others. It is a total of payments over several years, not a finding of improper spending, and the audit did not find every dollar subject to the deficiencies seen in the sample. The office’s response says it does not have all the authority or tools to oversee, track, or monitor those invoice payments. Maryland Matters reported that the office’s centralized repository of outside counsel contracts, started roughly three years ago, is expected to be finished by the end of 2027, and that the office plans guidance to agencies on tracking contracts and recording payments by the end of next year.

The political backdrop

Rutledge, a Harford County attorney and former Bel Air town commissioner, has argued the office should focus on public safety, consumer protection and the Chesapeake Bay, and has criticized its lawsuits against the federal government. MDBayNews does not have a Rutledge statement on the audit.

The audit does not say that litigation against the Trump administration drew resources away from any of these controls, and this article does not claim it did. The question it does raise is simpler. An office that advises state government on its contracts had recurring trouble overseeing its own.

What to Watch

• Whether the office meets its corrective action deadlines, including finishing its outside counsel contract repository by the end of 2027.
• Whether lawmakers take up outside counsel oversight in the 2027 session.
• Early voting runs Oct. 22 through Oct. 29, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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Sources: Maryland Office of Legislative Audits, “Office of the Attorney General” audit report, made public Oct. 20, 2026 (copy hosted by Maryland Matters). Bryan P. Sears, “Attorney General’s office failed to track, monitor millions in outside legal contracts,” Maryland Matters, Oct. 20, 2026. Danielle Gaines, “Rutledge faces steep climb to unseat Brown in low-key attorney general’s race,” Maryland Matters, Oct. 13, 2026. MDBayNews did not contact the Rutledge campaign or the Office of the Attorney General for this report.

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