Case docket
State audits of unemployment insurance — Colorado, Nevada and Arizona
State Audits — 3 court filings in the archive, mostly from Colorado Office of the State Auditor (Kerri L. Hunter, State Auditor), filed between November 15, 2021 and June 9, 2025.
Case facts
| Court | Colorado Office of the State Auditor (Kerri L. Hunter, State Auditor) (1 filing); Nevada Legislative Auditor, Legislative Counsel Bureau (1 filing) |
|---|---|
| Filings | 3 public filings |
| Filed | 2021-11-15 – 2025-06-09 |
| Original PDFs | 1 of 3 |
Case summary
This page collects three state audit reports on unemployment insurance administration, issued between November 2021 and June 2025 by the Colorado Office of the State Auditor, the Nevada Legislative Auditor and the Arizona Auditor General. The Colorado performance audit, Report 2056P of November 2021, identified $73.1 million in likely or potentially fraudulent benefits payments between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021, for 8,200 claims. The Nevada report, LA22-05, released March 29, 2021, evaluated controls over the collection of unemployment taxes from employers in calendar years 2018 and 2019. The Arizona report, 25-101 of June 2025, examined the Department of Economic Security's customer service to unemployment insurance claimants and its analysis of program data. Each report states findings and makes recommendations to the audited agency. None is a court filing.
Case at a glance
| Parties | Issuing bodies: the Colorado Office of the State Auditor (Kerri L. Hunter, State Auditor); the Legislative Auditor, Audit Division, Legislative Counsel Bureau, State of Nevada; and the Arizona Auditor General (Lindsey A. Perry). The audited agencies are the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the Nevada Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, and the Arizona Department of Economic Security |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | Agency / no docket. Report numbers: Colorado 2056P; Nevada LA22-05; Arizona 25-101 |
| Program | Unemployment insurance. The Colorado audit covers benefits paid from March 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021; the Nevada audit covers state unemployment taxes paid by employers in calendar years 2018 and 2019; the Arizona audit covers the unemployment insurance program in calendar year 2023 |
| Claims | Not applicable. These are legislative performance audits, not pleadings |
| Disposition or status | Findings and recommendations. The Colorado report contains three recommendations, to which the Department responded "AGREE"; the Nevada report contains 11 recommendations, which the Division accepted; the Arizona report states that the Auditor General makes 22 recommendations to the Department |
| Status checked | 2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read |
What did the Colorado audit find?
That the Department received 1,100 percent more claims in calendar year 2020 than in 2019, and that $73.1 million in likely or potentially fraudulent benefits payments went out between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021 on 8,200 claims, including $3.87 million on behalf of 1,065 individuals who were deceased and $5.04 million on behalf of 696 individuals who were incarcerated. The report also states that the Department had no evidence it had resolved 196,066 of 266,284 claimant requests.
What did the Nevada audit examine?
Controls over the collection of unemployment taxes from employers, reviewing tax overpayments and refunds in calendar years 2018 and 2019 and past due state unemployment tax receivables as of November 30, 2018. The report states that employer accounts with overpayments totalling over $25 million were being treated inconsistently, some rolling forward and others removed from accounts after three years.
What did the Arizona audit find?
That the Department provided inconsistent customer service to some claimants and has not analyzed program data to identify potential access barriers or systemic discrimination as required by federal regulation, which the report states impacts the Department's ability to implement program improvements.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
3 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.