Rep. Corey Mock,

D-Grand Forks, asked what would happen if one of the missing guns would be used for any illegal activity.

“Is the state liable?” Mock said.

Steinwand said the department intends to meet with the attorney general’s office to go over the issue of liability. He said he wasn’t 100 percent certain it would happen but there could be the possibility of filing a stolen weapons report at some point for the missing guns.

He said he and department staff were embarrassed by the poor audit results, which came with 44 recommendations for changes and improvements to policies and procedures.

“We expect more of ourselves, we expected more of ourselves and we will continue to expect more of ourselves,” Steinwand said.

He said about 80 percent of the recommendations outlined in the audit either have been completely addressed or substantially addressed since its release last month.

Other issues criticized in the audit were problems such as improper payments to staff, not following requirements for bidding out projects and the department’s Private Lands Open to Sportsmen program.

Sen. Terry Wanzek,