| Auditor General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the auditor general of Pennsylvania | |
| Term length | Four years, renewable once consecutively |
| Formation | 1809 (elected from 1850) |
| Website | Official website |
The Pennsylvania auditor general is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. [1] The current auditor general is Republican Timothy DeFoor.
The office of the Auditor General was created by the General Assembly in 1809 to centralize oversight of public accounts. It assumed the responsibilities of two earlier fiscal officers: the Comptroller General and the Register General. [2]
The office of Comptroller General had been established in 1782 to audit, liquidate, and adjust the Commonwealth’s accounts and manage financial claims in the aftermath of the American Revolution, with final approval originally resting with the Supreme Executive Council. [3] In 1789, lawmakers created the office of Register General to provide additional oversight, initially requiring the Comptroller General to submit accounts for review. By 1790, most responsibilities for settling accounts had shifted to the Register General, subject to the Comptroller General’s approval and ultimately to the Governor after the adoption of the Constitution of 1790. [4]
Although procedures were modified over the following years, both offices continued in operation until 1809, when the General Assembly abolished the offices of Comptroller General and Register General and transferred their duties to the newly created Auditor General. This reorganization established a single officer as the Commonwealth’s chief fiscal overseer. [5]
The auditor general was appointed by the governor until 1850, when it became a statewide elective office. The terms were for three years, until a constitutional amendment in 1909 increased the terms to four years. [6]
The auditor general performs financial audits of state agencies, municipal governments, school districts, public sector pensions, entities that receive state funding support (such as certain universities and hospitals), and corporate tax returns. These audits are designed as an accountability mechanism and serve to ensure that public money is spent in an appropriate manner. Additionally, the auditor general undertakes performance audits, which are designed to determine program efficiency and effectiveness, of certain organizations, such as veteran's homes, prisons, and mental health centers.
| Name | Term | Party |
|---|---|---|
| George Bryan Jr. | 1809–1821 | Democratic |
| James Duncan | 1821–1824 | Democratic-Republican Party |
| David Mann | 1824–1830 | Democratic-Republican |
| Daniel Sturgeon | 1830–1836 | Democratic |
| Nathaniel P. Hobart | 1836–1839 | Anti-Masonic Party |
| George R. Espy | 1839–1842 | Democratic |
| William F. Packer | 1842–1845 | Democratic |
| John N. Purviance | 1845–1851 | Democratic |
| Ephraim Banks | 1851–1857 | Democratic |
| Jacob Fry Jr. | 1857–1860 | Democratic |
| Thomas E. Cochran | 1860–1863 | Republican |
| Isaac Slenker | 1863–1866 | Democratic |
| John F. Hartranft | 1866–1872 | Republican |
| Harrison Allen | 1872–1875 | Republican |
| Justus F. Temple | 1875–1878 | Democratic |
| William P. Schell | 1878–1881 | Democratic |
| John A. Lemon | 1881–1884 | Republican |
| Jerome B. Niles | 1884–1887 | Republican |
| A. Wilson Norris | 1887–1888 | Republican |
| Thomas McCamant | 1888–1892 | Republican |
| David McMurtrie Gregg | 1892–1895 | Republican |
| Amos H. Mylin | 1895–1898 | Republican |
| Levi G. McCauley | 1898–1901 | Republican |
| Edmund B. Hardenbergh | 1901–1904 | Republican |
| William Preston Snyder | 1904–1907 | Republican |
| Robert K. Young | 1907–1910 | Republican |
| A.E. Sisson | 1910–1913 | Republican |
| Archibald W. Powell | 1913–1917 | Republican |
| Charles A. Snyder | 1917–1921 | Republican |
| Samuel S. Lewis | 1921–1925 | Republican |
| Edward Martin | 1925–1929 | Republican |
| Charles A. Waters | 1929–1933 | Republican |
| Frank E. Baldwin | 1933–1937 | Republican |
| Warren R. Roberts | 1937–1941 | Democratic |
| F. Clair Ross | 1941–1944 | Democratic |
| Ted A. Rosenberg | 1945 | Democratic |
| G. Harold Wagner | 1945–1949 | Democratic |
| Weldon Brinton Heyburn | 1949–1953 | Republican |
| Charles R. Barber | 1953–1957 | Republican |
| Charles C. Smith | 1957–1961 | Republican |
| Thomas Z. Minehart | 1961–1965 | Democratic |
| Grace M. Sloan | 1965–1969 | Democratic |
| Bob Casey Sr. | 1969–1977 | Democratic |
| Al Benedict | 1977–1985 | Democratic |
| Donald A. Bailey | 1985–1989 | Democratic |
| Barbara Hafer | 1989–1997 | Republican |
| Bob Casey Jr. | 1997–2005 | Democratic |
| Jack Wagner | 2005–2013 | Democratic |
| Eugene DePasquale | 2013–2021 | Democratic |
| Timothy DeFoor | 2021– | Republican |
 Pennsylvania statewide elected officials | |
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