Study: Ga. at high risk for corruption | News

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A nationwide study finds state governments lack transparency and accountability to citizens, and remain at high risk for corruption. Georgia is among those with a failing grade.

In the ranking, not a single state received an A from the probe, done by the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity.

There's a surprising state atop the list of most transparent and accountable governments: New Jersey.

Despite - or perhaps because of - recent corruption scandals, New Jersey gets the top ranking because of steps it took to combat corruption, including tough ethics and anti-corruption laws it adopted in response.

Reporters in each state researched 330 corruption risk indicators across 14 government categories.

Eight states got an F. They are: North Dakota, Michigan, South Carolina, Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia.