Section 8547.5.

(a) The State Auditor shall create the means for the submission of allegations of improper governmental activity both by transmission via mail or other carrier to a specified mailing address and electronic submission through an Internet Web site portal. The State Auditor may request that a person submitting an allegation provide his or her name and contact information and provide the names and contact information for any persons who could help to substantiate the claim. However, the State Auditor shall not require any person submitting an allegation to provide his or her name or contact information and shall clearly state on the agency Internet Web site that this information is not required in order to submit an allegation.

(b) Upon receiving specific information that any employee or state agency has engaged in an improper governmental activity, the State Auditor may conduct an investigation of the matter. The identity of the person providing the information that initiated the investigation, or of any person providing information in confidence to further an investigation, shall not be disclosed without the express permission of the person providing the information except that the State Auditor may make the disclosure to a law enforcement agency that is conducting a criminal investigation.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 328, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2012.)