King County names FBI veteran as first taxpayer watchdog

King County has tapped a former FBI agent and veteran government watchdog to lead its first inspector general’s office.

The King County Council this week appointed Stuart Robinson to a five-year term as inspector general. He’s now tasked with building and leading a new division charged with investigating allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse involving county programs and contracts.

“We won’t eliminate all fraud, but what we can do is let the people that are willing to defraud government, or the people in government that are taking shortcuts, know that somebody’s watching the store,” Robinson told KIRO Newsradio.

Robinson spent 26 years with the FBI before serving for a decade in inspector general offices in Florida.

King County overhauls oversight after audits flag questionable spending

His appointment comes as King County continues to overhaul its oversight systems following multiple audits and investigations that identified questionable spending, oversight failures and potential fraud.

A review released by the King County Office of the Ombuds in May found nearly $700,000 in questionable costs across 16 community organizations receiving county funding, including unsupported cash withdrawals, potential conflicts of interest and insufficient documentation.

More recently, an internal county review raised concerns about approximately $261,000 in potentially duplicative salary and rent billing by the nonprofit Urban Family, prompting King County and the City of Seattle to suspend contracts and launch a deeper audit.

Office to investigate financial misconduct, protect whistleblowers

Robinson said the new office will provide an independent outlet for investigating allegations involving public money while offering protections for whistleblowers and county employees who report concerns.

“A lot of these county departments aren’t set up to be investigative units,” Robinson said. “The best practice for that is to have an inspector general’s office that can act as independent eyes and ears for investigations when there’s potential for fraud in county departments.”

Under county law, the inspector general’s office will have authority to investigate financial misconduct, operate a centralized fraud hotline, issue subpoenas and pursue recovery of misspent funds.

Robinson said building the office will take several months as investigators and support staff are hired and procedures are put in place.

“The mission at hand is producing government transparency, government accountability and, at the end of the day, better government,” he said.

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