Kentucky's auditor is launching an investigation into Kentucky's medical cannabis program.

In a statement, auditor Alison Ball said her office has received complaints about the lottery process used to award medical cannabis business licenses.

Quote Kentuckians should have confidence that state offices operate with transparency and integrity, and my office is committed to ensuring those standards, end quote.

Auditor ball says the investigation will begin by examining the Office of Medical Cannabis Business License application and award process.

Last year, the Beshear administration partnered with the Kentucky Lottery Corporation to create a lottery system for awarding medical cannabis business licenses.

At the time, Governor Andy Beshear said the goal was to, quote, ensure that our licensing process was transparent and provided everyone a fair shot.

Reporting by Louisville Public Media found most of the businesses awarded medical cannabis licenses were formed by people who don't live in Kentucky.

The governor responded to those concerns back in December.

What we have seen in other states are lawsuits, when states have tried to favor only in-state companies that have not run a lottery like this.

There's been at least one state that has been enjoined for over two years that they have their their legislation in place, but for two full years, they can't even run up the end of the selection process or the rest.

For us, it was about putting the patient first and we had to make a decision, you know, do we put the patient first and if so, we design a system that will have the fewest likely unsuccessful challenges on the lawsuit side.

We reached out to the Office of Medical Cannabis about Auditor Ball's investigation.

The governor's office sent us a response, instead saying they're committed to transparency, which is why the lottery process was streamed online.

The statement goes on to say, quote, today, no one has filed a legal claim challenging Kentucky's medical cannabis laws or the Office of Medical Cannabis Regulations.

The individuals who have come forward to express concerns went through the full process and did not complain until after not being selected in the lottery.

End quote.