The state auditor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Nineteen individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Julie Blaha, a DFLer.

Election and term of office

The state auditor is elected by the people on Election Day in November, and takes office on the first Monday of the next January. There is no limit to the number of terms a state auditor may hold. To be elected state auditor, a person must be qualified voter, permanently resident in the state of Minnesota at least 30 days prior to the election, and at least 21 years of age. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the state auditor, the governor may appoint a successor to serve the balance of the term. The state auditor may also be recalled by the voters or removed from office through an impeachment trial.

Powers and duties

In Minnesota, the state auditor is charged with supervising and auditing the finances of the state's approximately 3,600 local governments, which altogether tax and spend over $40 billion annually. Likewise, the state auditor performs under contract the annual single audit of federal programs administered by state agencies and their subrecipients (i.e., nonprofits and localities), which accounts for another $20 to $26 billion of public spending depending on the fiscal year. The state auditor's authority transcends jurisdictions and applies to all local governments, be they counties, cities, towns, school districts, local pension funds, metropolitan and regional agencies, or myriad special purpose districts, and to every state agency that receives federal financial assistance. Public expenditures overseen by the state auditor thus exceed what state agencies are authorized to spend annually. In keeping with this position of trust, the state auditor renders opinions on the presentation of governments' financial statements and their overall fiscal health, examines compliance over financial management with internal controls, conducts best practices reviews of locally-delivered public services, reviews audit reports prepared by private accounting firms, and investigates complaints of waste, fraud, or abuse of public funds and resources. In addition, the state auditor prescribes uniform systems of accounting and budgeting applicable to all local governments, collects and analyses local government financial data, and provides training opportunities to local government officials and employees on matters of public administration and financial management. The state auditor also issues annual statutory reports on matters of asset forfeiture, municipal lobbying, and the condition of local public finances. These reports inform the budgetary and fiscal policies of the governor and Legislature. Aside from his or her functional responsibilities, the state auditor is by virtue of office a member of the following public bodies:

History

The state auditor's office has its origins in the Minnesota Territory, when the territorial governor appointed an auditor to ensure that both territorial and county finances were in good order and handled properly. This function continued with an elected state auditor upon Minnesota's entry into the Union on May 11, 1858, and lasted until a 1973 reorganization of state government. During the intervening years, the state auditor acted as the comptroller for the whole of state government. In that capacity, the state auditor prescribed and maintained the statewide accounting system, preaudited claims by and against the state, issued warrants on the state treasury in payment of claims approved, monitored county finances, and managed the state's land records. Following reorganization, the responsibilities of the state auditor's office were transferred to a state agency known today as the Department of Management and Budget. The Office of the State Auditor then shifted to its present role, which was previously handled by the public examiner, a Cabinet official appointed by the governor that audited local governments and state agencies alike. Following elimination of the Department of the Public Examiner, the elected state auditor took on the duty of supervising and auditing local government finances. At the same time, audits and evaluations of state agency financial management and performance were reassigned to a newly created office of legislative auditor, which is appointed by and reports to the Legislative Audit Commission. Aside from the statewide single audit, which was transferred from the legislative auditor to the state auditor beginning in 2021, this division of auditing responsibility has remained constant since 1973.

Territorial auditors

State auditors

The state auditor's term of office was originally three years. In 1883, voters approved a constitutional amendment changing it to four years.

Notes on Minnesota political party names

Attempts at higher office

The position of state auditor has become a stepping stone in Minnesota for individuals that hold aspirations of higher office, more so in fact than any other constitutional office. In the past 50 years, two incumbent auditors - Arne Carlson and Mark Dayton - have won competitive gubernatorial races. Conversely, no incumbent or former secretary of state has ever won an election for governor or U.S. senator in that timeframe; the same goes for any incumbent or former attorney general. Likewise, Rudy Perpich and Tina Smith are the only lieutenant governors since 1972 to ever be elected a governor or a U.S. senator.

Footnotes