As legislative auditor, Kyle posted an office sign "In God We Trust, All Others We Audit."

"There was more passion than prudence," Albert J. Robinson, the first assistant legislative auditor, said in an interview.

Mr. Robinson, the first deputy legislative auditor, said state scrutiny was adding only a day or so to what was a somewhat protracted process.

The Regents never gave formal approval for the mansion renovation, which was orginally supposed to cost $400,000, according to the legislative auditor's office.

Access to the room and machines is reliant upon a dual key and password system from a Lottery drawing official and a legislative auditor.

The state's legislative auditor general ultimately concluded in a report in 1988 that the organizations with which Johnson and Welch were involved "have not been effectively managed."

Theriot was named the fourth legislative auditor on April 20, 2004, and assumed his duties a month later.

The company, which handles bond issues for Louisiana public institutions, is subject to the legislative auditor's oversight.

But between 1933 and 1990, the Utah Navajo Oil Trust Fund was plundered of $150 million, according to a Utah legislative auditor's report.

The estimate is based on a sample of payments examined by the office of Steve J. Theriot, Louisiana's legislative auditor.