Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, and Fire Marshal of Florida

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The Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal (commonly referred to as State Treasurer) is a former statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was abolished following the Florida Cabinet reforms of 1998 which took effect in 2003. [1]

A statewide office, with a seat in the Cabinet, the official handled the duties of the State Treasurer, Commissioner of Insurance, and Fire Marshal. These duties included payroll, pensions, tax collection, state finances, insurance regulation, and the investigation of fires. The most visible responsibility of the officeholder was as Insurance Commissioner.

Following the Cabinet reform, the office was merged with that of the state Comptroller to create the new office of Chief Financial Officer of Florida, which oversees the Florida Department of Financial Services. The new department contains many of the functions of the previous offices, but has less direct control over insurance regulation than the previous office did. This was done to lessen the control of one person over financial services regulation in the state.

Tom Gallagher was the last Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal and the first CFO. Other persons who held the office included U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and William D. Gunter, Jr.

Officeholders

Treasurers by party affiliation
PartyTreasurers
Democratic 18
Republican 4
Whig 1

Territorial Era (1821-1845)

Charles H Austin, Sr. - 1833 - 1835 (died 1837)

Thomas Hall Austin - ? 1838 - 1840 - ?

Henry Livingston Rutgers - 1843-1844 ?

#NameTerm of ServicePolitical Party
1 Benjamin Byrd 1845–1848Democratic
2 William R. Hayward 1848–1853Whig
3 Charles H. Austin, Jr. 1853–1868Democratic
4 Simon B. Conover 1868–1873Republican
5 Charles H. Foster 1873–1877Republican
6 Walter Gwynn 1877–1881Democratic
7 Henry A. l'Engle 1881–1885Democratic
8 Edward S. Crill 1885–1889Democratic
9 Francis J. Pons 1889–1891Democratic
10 E. J. Triay 1891–1893Democratic
11 Clarence B. Collins 1893–1897Democratic
12 James B. Whitfield 1897–1903Democratic
13 William V. Knott 1903–1912Democratic
14 J. C. Luning 1912–1928Democratic
15 William V. Knott 1928–1941Democratic
16 J. Edwin Larson 1941–1965Democratic
17 Broward Williams 1965–1971Democratic
18 Thomas David O'Malley 1971–1975Democratic
19 Philip F. Asher 1975–1976Democratic
20 Bill Gunter 1976–1989Democratic
21 Tom Gallagher 1989–1995Republican
22 Bill Nelson 1995–2001Democratic
23 Tom Gallagher 2001–2003Republican

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References

  1. Florida, State Library and Archives of. "Florida Governors". Florida Memory. Retrieved 2019-07-23.