Topeka ? A new report by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity gives Kansas a failing grade for government transparency.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit ranked the state 42nd in the nation for openness in its report released Monday. Kansas received a C grade for transparency in 2012, ranking 10th in the nation.

The report cited the centralization of power in the executive branch, the Governmental Ethics Commission’s inability to audit lawmakers’ financial disclosures and use of private email addresses by Gov. Sam Brownback and administration officials.

Emails sent from private addresses are not subject to the Kansas Open Records Act. In May, Brownback defended his use of a private email and said few of his conversations about state matters occur by email. A request for comment by the newspaper was not returned on Monday.

According to Ward, the report’s critique of the state is very accurate and disappointing.

Democratic Rep. Jim Ward said, “You can’t run a transparent administration through private email use.”

The commission’s executive director, Carol Williams, says her seven-person staff is large enough to ensure lawmakers are filling out the forms, but not large enough to audit the roughly 6,000 forms it receives each year.

“Once those 6,000 some individuals file that form, we can look at it, make sure they’ve completed it and signed it, but we have no way of knowing if the information they have put on that document is true,” Williams said.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the report “contains errors,” and the report’s assertions that officials are not transparent are disingenuous.

In an email to the newspaper, Kobach, who is the state’s chief elections officer, said “The report gives Kansas low marks for having insufficient staff supervising elections, without any explanation.” He notes that elections division of his office has never had insufficient staff to supervise elections.