It was up to ex-DA Rachael Rollins to police her own office when it came to state-issued P-card use, according to the Comptroller’s office.

When she was Suffolk District Attorney, Rollins used her taxpayer-funded Bank of America credit card on fancy dinners from New York City to Boston, as the Herald reported Monday. But since DAs are semi-autonomous, they must oversee credit card expenditures and Comptroller guidelines are just that — guidelines.

“Any agency using the Procurement Card program is required by the Comptroller’s policy on procurement cards to establish a system of internal controls so that they are in compliance with that policy and that use of Procurement Cards is consistent with the policy,” said Michael Sangalang, spokesman for the state Comptroller.

He said the state office of Administration and Finance strictly prohibits the “cost of meals, snacks or coffee” along with alcohol — but that’s under their rules. Rollins was, in short, overseeing herself.

“That’s like the fox guarding the chicken coop,” said George Regan, a Boston public relations pro and onetime press secretary to former Mayor Kevin White.

Rollins did not respond to the Herald’s coverage of her dinner bills paid for by Suffolk County residents.

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Rollins is now working for Roxbury Community College in a part-time post that pays her $80,000 annually.

Rollins, who just won her law license back last week, was the Suffolk district attorney from January 2019 until being sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts on Jan. 10, 2022 — with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. She resigned on May 19, 2023, following two scathing Department of Justice reports on her rocky tenure, where she was accused of trying to influence the outcome of the Suffolk DA’s race and attended a DNC fund-raiser in Andover in a possible ethics violation.