Oregon’s Department of Energy has been wracked by so many problems that legislators have debated if it should be shut down and its work distributed to other agencies. So it may come as no surprise that the department has a new problem.

Both the energy department and the Oregon Department of Agriculture have failed to perform audits as required by state law.

State law requires bigger state agencies to take a closer look at how they operate and their risks at least once every five years. They are supposed to do what are called governance and risk management audits. These internal audits can help identify what an agency is doing that works and what doesn’t. They are also supposed to examine where an agency may be at risk for violating laws or rules.

Both the energy and agriculture departments have completed or participated in other audits — but not the governance and risk audit. They have excuses for not getting this one done. The energy department said it has not had an internal auditor since spring 2016. It has made an offer to an individual to take the position and that person is scheduled to start in the spring.

The agriculture department said it doesn’t have an auditor. It said it was unable to borrow the Oregon Department of Forestry’s auditor, as it had done in the past. So it didn’t do it. The agency plans to look into hiring a contractor to perform the work.

We should note that other state agencies had auditing vacancies and are up to date on this audit requirement.

The statute with the requirement for the audit doesn’t include a penalty. And it’s hard to know if the failure of these two agencies to do this audit is allowing problems to fester. But the agriculture department is responsible for inspection, certification and regulation of food in Oregon. That’s serious stuff.

The failure by the energy department is more worrying. The department mismanaged the state’s Business Energy Tax Credit program so badly that the state closed the program. And in 2017 an energy department employee admitted he was guilty of taking nearly $300,000 in bribes to help arrange sales of tax credits. “I’m dirty,” he said, according to The Oregonian. In January, he asked to change his plea.

Oregon’s state legislators are now busy creating new laws. Do they ever stop to check if existing laws are followed? There’s no telling what they might find at the energy department.