Maryland’s Department of Human Resources lost more than 42,000 items from its inventory — including computers and furniture — totaling $27.5 million over the last 10 years, according to a new audit. The agency has since tracked down more than 31,000 of the 42,433 lost items, which accounted for about one-third of its inventory, according to Nancy Lineman, a spokeswoman for the department. The agency now reports missing equipment within 10 days of discovering the loss, in accordance with the state Department of General Services’ requirements, she said.

At the time of the audit by Maryland’s independent Office of Legislative Audit, “There were no procedures to investigate and resolve missing items; rather, the items were simply noted in the inventory records as ‘not found,'” the audit states.