(a)
(1) Unless a shorter period is prescribed by law or rule, all school districts' annual audits not conducted by Arkansas Legislative Audit shall be completed and filed with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and Arkansas Legislative Audit within nine (9) months following the end of each fiscal year.
(2) At the request of the school district, the division may grant an extension of up to ninety (90) days on the deadline under this subsection.
(b)
(1) All school district contracts for audit services with private certified public accountants shall contain a provision requiring completion of the audit and filing of the audit reports by the auditor with the division and Arkansas Legislative Audit within nine (9) months following the end of each fiscal year.
(2) At the request of the school district, the division may grant an extension of up to ninety (90) days on the deadline under this subsection.
(c) Arkansas Legislative Audit shall annually provide the division a list of school districts audited by Arkansas Legislative Audit and update the division on any changes throughout the year.
(d)
(1) If the division has identified a school as being in fiscal distress by June 30 of any year, the annual audit of that school district shall be completed and filed with the division and the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee within six (6) months following the end of each fiscal year.
(2) If the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee determines that circumstances warrant, the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee may extend the time to file the audit report of a fiscally distressed school district up to an additional ninety (90) days.