Linn County Auditor Joel Miller delivers a report under oath regarding iMaint and former contract employee J. Clarahan to the Linn County Board of Supervisors during a meeting at Linn County West in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, May 23, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller isn’t ruling out an appeal of a judge’s ruling this week that county supervisors have sole authority to audit county finances.

“The voters re-elected me by the biggest popular vote of anyone on the ballot in a contested race,” Miller said this afternoon. “The voters want the county auditor to be vigilant with the tax dollars.”

But there’s a catch, Miller said: the supervisors would have to approve any appeal and the funding for an attorney to argue it.

“I would guess they would want no part of continuing it,” he said. Miller said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll request an appeal himself.

“If the taxpayers want me to pursue this, I would ask they contact the county supervisors.”

Judge Paul Miller ruled the county auditor “does not have explicit authority or implicit authority to conduct audits of other county departments, absent a request by the board of supervisors.”

“It was a complete and utter rejection of every point that was raised by Auditor Miller,” said Supervisor Brent Oleson, R-Marion. “We are very happy, and we hope that now after years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars diverted to this issue  Auditor Miller will be able to work with us.”

What do you think of the ruling? Do you agree with the judge’s decision denying Miller the authority to audit the county’s financial records?