Utah State Auditor

Utah State Auditor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2013 FY Budget:	$5,186,300
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Utah Constitution, Article VII, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	John Dougall
Officeholder Party:	Republican
Assumed office:	January 7, 2013
Compensation:	$104,000
Elections
Next election:	November 8, 2016
Last election:	November 6, 2012
Other Utah Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Attorney General •Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Utah State Auditor is an appointed position in the Utah state government. The auditor is the chief watchdog for the state, providing independent audits of Utah's state and local governments. The auditor operates independently of any executive or administrative officers of the state.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is Republican John Dougall. He first won election on November 6, 2012 and took office on January 7, 2013.

Authority

The office of auditor is established in Article VII, Section 1 of the state constitution.

Article VII, Section 1:

The elective constitutional officers of the Executive Department shall consist of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Attorney General...

Qualifications

Article VII, Section 3 of the Utah Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

To be eligible for the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor a person shall be 30 years of age or older at the time of election. To be eligible for the office of Attorney General a person shall be 25 years of age or older, at the time of election, admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, and in good standing at the bar. To be eligible for the office of State Auditor or State Treasurer a person shall be 25 years of age or older at the time of election. No person is eligible to any of the offices provided for in Section 1 unless at the time of election that person is a qualified voter and has been a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding the election.

• a qualified elector
• a resident of Utah for five years next preceding election
• at least 25 years old

Elections

According to Article VII, Section 2 of the state constitution, Utah voters elect the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor...

...every four years at the time and place of voting for members of the Legislature. The candidates respectively having the highest number of votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected. If two or more candidates have an equal and the highest number of votes for any one of the offices, the two houses of the Legislature at its next session shall elect by joint ballot one of those candidates for that office.

• Per Article VII, Section 1, the newly elected auditor takes office beginning on the first Monday of January next after their election.

2012

See also: Utah down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Incumbent Auston Johnson (R) ran for re-election in 2012 but lost in the primary. John Dougall (R) defeated Mark Sage (D) and Richard Proctor (C) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

Utah State Auditor General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Sage	29.5%	259,576
	Republican	John Dougall	65.4%	575,677
	Constitution	Richard Proctor	5.2%	45,373
Total Votes				880,626
Election Results via Utah Lieutenant Governor.

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in the office of attorney general, treasurer, auditor, or superintendent of public instruction, Article VII, Section 10 of the state constitution allows the governor to fill the vacancy by appointment. The appointee must be from the same political party as the removed officer, and shall hold the office until a successor is elected and qualified.

Duties

The auditor holds users of the state's money accountable by performing audits of state and local governments. The specific duties of the state auditor are outlined in Title 67, Chapter 3 of the Utah code:

• audit permanent fund, each special fund, the General Fund, and the accounts of any department of state government or any independent agency or public corporation as the law requires, as the auditor determines is necessary, or upon request of the governor or legislature
• perform audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and other auditing procedures as promulgated by recognized authoritative bodies
• conduct performance and special purpose audits, examinations, and reviews of any entity that receives public funds

State budget

The budget for the State Auditor's Office in Fiscal Year 2013 was $5,186,300.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

In 2012, the Utah State Auditor was paid an estimated $104,000. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

Contact information

Office of the Utah State Auditor
Utah State Capitol Complex
Senate Office Building Suite E310
P.O. Box 142310
Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Phone: (801) 538-1025

See also

• Auditor
• John Dougall
• Auston Johnson

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Utah State Auditor