Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts

Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$129,375
2024 FY Budget:	$22,255,300
Term limits:	2 consecutive terms
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Kentucky Constitution, Executive Department Article, Section 91
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball Republican Party Assumed office: January 1, 2024
Elections
Next election:	November 2, 2027
Last election:	November 7, 2023
Other Kentucky Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Cabinet Secretary • Public Service Commission

The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts is an elected state executive position in the Kentucky state government. The office was established in the first Kentucky Constitution of 1792, but did not become an elected position until 1850. The primary duty of the office is to audit all accounts and financial transactions of all state government spending agencies.

Current officeholder

The current Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts is Allison Ball (R). Ball assumed office in 2024.

Authority

The office of auditor of public accounts is established in the Executive Department Article of the Kentucky Constitution.

Executive Department Article, Section 91:

A Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics, Secretary of State, and Attorney-General, shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State at the same time the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected, for the term of four years...

Qualifications

Executive Department Article, Section 91 of the Kentucky Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

• at least 30 years old at time of election
• resident of Kentucky for at least two years

...each of whom shall be at least thirty years of age at the time of his election, and shall have been a resident citizen of the State at least two years next before his election.

Elections

Kentucky state government organizational chart

Kentucky elects auditors during gubernatorial election years (2019, 2023, 2027, etc.). Terms begin the first Monday in January following the election.

Results

2023

See also: Kentucky Auditor election, 2023

General election

General election for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts

Allison Ball defeated Kimberley Reeder in the general election for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allison Ball (R)	60.8	783,217
		Kimberley Reeder (D)	39.2	505,924

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,289,141
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kimberley Reeder advanced from the Democratic primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts

Allison Ball defeated Derek Leonard Petteys in the Republican primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allison Ball	72.4	190,761
		Derek Leonard Petteys	27.6	72,589

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 263,350
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2019

See also: Kentucky Auditor election, 2019

General election

General election for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts

Incumbent Mike Harmon defeated Sheri Donahue and Kyle Hugenberg in the general election for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Harmon (R)	55.7	779,730
		Sheri Donahue (D)	41.0	574,820
		Kyle Hugenberg (L)	3.3	46,563

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,401,113
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts

Sheri Donahue defeated Kelsey Hayes Coots and Chris Tobe in the Democratic primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts on May 21, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheri Donahue	46.7	134,988
		Kelsey Hayes Coots	33.1	95,691
		Chris Tobe	20.2	58,551

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 289,230
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Drew Curtis (D)

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Mike Harmon advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts.

2015

See also: Kentucky Auditor election, 2015

There was a regularly scheduled election for auditor in 2015. Adam Edelen (D) ran for re-election. The primary election took place May 19, 2015, and the general election occurred on November 3, 2015.

Republican Mike Harmon defeated incumbent Auditor Adam Edelen (D) in the general election.

Kentucky Auditor, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Harmon	51.9%	486,741
	Democrat	Adam Edelen	48.1%	450,316
Total Votes				937,057
Election results via Kentucky Secretary of State

Term limits

The Kentucky Constitution limits the auditor to two consecutive four-year terms.

Vacancies

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches the constitutional or statutory text that details the process of filling vacancies for a state executive office. That information for the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts has not yet been added. After extensive research, we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Duties

The auditor's officer originally served as official bookkeeper of Kentucky, as well as the chief agent for tax collection, comptroller, and general administrative officer. The office was established as an independent auditor in 1936, responsible for auditing all spending agencies of the state. The office has also become responsible for technology audits, testing the security of state government computer systems, special investigations, and performance auditing.

Divisions

As of January 18, 2021, divisions within the Auditor's office included:

• Office of Local Government Audits
• Office of State Government Audits and Technology
• Office of Special Examinations
• Information Technology
• Communications
• Financial Operations

State budget

See also: Kentucky state budget and finances

The Auditor of Public Accounts' budget for Fiscal Year 2024 was $22,255,300.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $129,375, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the auditor received a salary of $129,375, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the auditor received a salary of $129,375 according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the auditor received a salary of $126,485 according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the auditor received a salary of $124,113 according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the auditor received a salary of $121,550 according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the auditor’s salary was increased to $119,080 according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the auditor’s salary was increased to $118,217 according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the auditor received a salary of $117,329. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the auditor received a salary of $115,593. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2012

In 2012, the auditor received a salary of $113,615. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

Historical officeholders

Since 1792, there have been 50 Kentucky State Treasurers. Two of them served two non-consecutive terms.

Click "show" for former officeholders.

Number	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1	William McDowell	1792	1796
2	George Madison	1796	1816
3	John Madison	1816	1820
4	Peter Clay	1820	1820
5	Ben Shelby	1820	1834
6	Thomas S. Page	1834	1846
7	H.Q. Bradley	1846	1848
8	John B. Temple	1848	1850
9	James A. Barbour	1850	1851
10	Thomas S. Page	1851	1859
11	Grant Green	1859	1863
12	A.T. Samuels	1863	1967
13	D. Howard Smith	1867	1879
14	Fayette Hewitt	1879	1887
15	L.C. Norman	1887	1896
16	Sam H. Stone	1896	1900
17	John S. Sweeney	1900	1900
18	Gus G. Coulter	1900	1904
19	S.W. Hager	1904	1908
20	Frank P. Jones	1908	1912
21	H.M. Bosworth	1912	1916
22	Robert L. Greene	1916	1919
23	T.M. Jones	1919	1920
24	John J. Craig	1920	1924
25	William H. Shanks	1924	1928
26	Clell Coleman	1928	1932
27	J. Dan Talbott	1932	1936
28	E.E. Shannon	1936	1940
29	David A. Logan	1940	1943
30	B.L. Sparks	1943	1947
31	Charles I. Ross	1947	1947
32	W.D. Bratcher	1947	1948
33	Harry Newman Jones	1948	1952
34	T. Herbert Tinsley	1952	1956
35	Mary Louise Foust	1956	1960
36	Joseph W. Schneider	1960	1964
37	Henry H. Carter	1964	1968
38	Clyde Conley	1968	1969
39	James Thompson	1969	1970
40	Mary Louise Foust	1970	1976
41	George Atkins	1976	1980
42	James B. Graham	1980	1984
43	Mary Ann Tobin	1984	1988
44	Bob Babbage	1980	1992	Democrat
45	A.B. Chandler, III	1992	1996	Democrat
46	Edward B. Hatchett, Jr.	1996	2004	Democrat
47	Crit Luallen	2004	2012	Democrat
48	Adam Edelen	2012	2016	Democrat
49	Mike Harmon	2016	2024	Republican
50	Allison Ball	2024	Present	Republican

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kentucky State Auditor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts - Google News

Contact information

209 St. Clair St. Frankfort, Ky. 40601
Telephone: : 502-564-5841
Fax: 502-564-2912

External links

• Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts