West Virginia Treasurer

West Virginia Treasurer
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2013 FY Budget:	$3,928,147
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	West Virginia Constitution, Article VII, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	John Perdue
Officeholder Party:	Democratic
Assumed office:	1997
Compensation:	$95,000
Elections
Next election:	November 8, 2016
Last election:	November 6, 2012
Other West Virginia Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education• Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner• Natural Resources Commissioner • Secretary of Commerce • Commissioner of Labor • Public Service Commission

The West Virginia Treasurer is an elected, state executive position in the West Virginia state government. The treasurer is the chief financial officer of the state and is a member of several major financial decision-making boards throughout the state government.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is John Perdue. He was first elected in 1996.

Authority

The Treasurer's installation is established by Article VII of the West Virginia Constitution.

Article VII, Section 1:

The executive department shall consist of a governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and attorney general...

Qualifications

Article IV, Section 4 of the West Virginia Constitution establishes the qualifications of office as such:

No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or appointed to any state, county or municipal office; but the governor and judges must have attained the age of thirty, and the attorney general and senators the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning of their respective terms of service; and must have been citizens of the state for five years next preceding their election or appointment, or be citizens at the time this constitution goes into operation.

• a citizen entitled to vote
• a resident of West Virginia for at least the preceding 5 years

Elections

The Office of Treasurer is a publicly elected statewide position with elections held every four years. Elections are held in November and officers assume their duties the following January. There are no term limits for the office.

2012

See also: West Virginia down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Incumbent John Perdue defeated Mike Hall (R) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

West Virginia Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Perdue Incumbent	55.3%	295,996
	Republican	Mike Hall	44.7%	238,850
Total Votes				534,846
Election Results West Virginia Secretary of State Election Results Center.

Vacancies

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article VII, Section 17 of the state constitution.

If the office of treasurer becomes vacant, it is the duty of the governor to fill the position by appointment. The appointee serves until a new treasurer is elected.

Duties

As the chief financial officer, the duties of the treasurer center around cash management for the state government:

• receives and disburses state funds
• files and retains all paid checks and bonds issued by the state
• collects fees crime victim's compensation, law-enforcement training, regional jail authority, and litter control fund
• disburses coal, oil, gas, liquor, wine, and fire casualty insurance premium taxes to local government subdivisions
• issues quarterly and annual reports on debt
• provides safekeeping services
• handles additional banking and accounting functions as directed

Divisions

The office of the treasurer is divided into specialized departments.

• The Administration Department maintains the financial records of the treasurer's office, and provides a full, online accounting of all state tax dollars.
• The Cash Management Department manages the state's banking system, receiving deposits and debits, and collects and disburses state and local government funds.
• The Debt Management Department is a central repository for information regarding all debts issued by the state and all agencies, boards, and commissions. The staff process debt payments and issue annual and semi-annual reports on both debt management and debt capacity.
• The e-Government Department maintains an electronic system for goods and services offered by the state government, ranging from tuition payments to hunting and fishing licenses.
• The Financial Education Department delivers programming to West Virginians to promote personal financial literacy and manages partnerships among citizens, private businesses, and other local government entities to ensure continued access to these programs.
• The Internal Audit Department provides assistance to the treasury's audit committee through data analysis, appraisals, counsel, information, and recommendations to promote the internal controls that govern the functions of the office.
• The Unclaimed Property Department works to return and recover unclaimed property to its rightful owner.

State budget

The budget for the Treasurer's Office in Fiscal Year 2013 was $3,928,147.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

Article 7, Section 19 of the state constitution defines the method by which the treasurer's compensation is set:

The officers named in this article shall receive for their services a salary to be established by law, which shall not be increased or diminished during their official terms, and they shall not, after they shall not, after the expirations of the terms of those in office at the adoption of this amendment, receive to their own use any fees, costs, perquisites of office or other compensation, and all fees that may hereafter be payable by law, for any service performed by any officer provided for in this article of the Constitution, shall be paid in advance into the state treasury.

Chapter 6, Article 7-2 of the West Virginia Code lays out the exact compensation for certain state officers. According to this section of the state code, the salary of the treasurer, beginning in 2009 and for each calendar year thereafter, shall be $95,000.

2012

In 2012, the treasurer was paid an estimated $95,000. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2010

In 2010, the West Virginia Treasurer was paid an estimated $95,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

Former officeholders

Summary of past officeholders. Since 1863, West Virginia has had 23 treasurers. Larrie Bailey served twice, non-consecutively.

Click "show" former officeholders.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	County
1	Campbell Tarr	1863	1866	Republican
2	Jacob H. Brister	1866	1868	Republican
3	James A. MaCauley	1868	1870	Republican
4	John S. Burdette	1870	1876	Democrat
5	Sobieski Brady	1876	1876	Democrat
6	Thomas J. West	1876	1880	Democrat
7	Thomas O'Brien	1880	1884
8	William T. Thompson	1884	1892	Democrat
9	John M. Rowan	1892	1896	Democrat
10	M. A. Kendall	1896	1900	Republican
11	Peter Silman	1900	1904	Republican
12	Newton Ogden	1904	1908	Republican
13	E. Leslie Long	1908	1916	Republican
14	W.S. Johnson	1916	1932	Republican
15	Richard E. Talbott	1932	1950	Democrat
16	William H. Ansel, Jr.	1950	1956	Democrat
17	Orel J. Skeen	1956	1960	Democrat
18	John H. Kelly	1960	1975	Democrat
19	Ronald G. Pearson	1975	1976	Republican
20	Larrie Bailey	1976	1984	Democrat
21	A. James Machin	1984	1989	Democrat
22	Thomas E. Loehr	1989	1990	Democrat
23	Larrie Bailey	1990	1996	Democrat
24	John D. Perdue	1996	present	Democrat

Contact information

West Virginia State Treasurer's Office
1900 Kanawha Boulevard
Capitol Complex Building #1, Room E-145
Charleston, WV 25305

Phone: 304-558-5000
Toll free: 1-800-422-7498
TTY: 304-340-1598

Contact information for individual departments

See also

• Treasurer
• John D. Perdue

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the West Virginia State Treasurer