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34-466: Established in 1889, the office of State Auditor was designed by Washington's founders to assure that all public money received and disbursed by state and local governments is spent wisely and in the public interest. The state auditor exercises this constitutional power, duty, and authority as "auditor of public accounts" by conducting financial , single , accountability , cybersecurity , and performance audits of local governments and state agencies. In

68-597: A whistleblower protection program for state employees. Functional responsibilities aside, the state auditor is also fourth (behind the lieutenant governor , secretary of state , and treasurer , respectively) in the line of succession to the office of governor of Washington . In 1854, one year after Washington left the Oregon Territory and became a territory in its own right, the Washington Territorial Legislature established

102-459: A $ 900 million budget and managing 3,000 employees. Washington State Constitution The Constitution of the State of Washington is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Washington . The constitution was adopted as part of Washington Territory 's path to statehood in 1889. An earlier constitution was drafted and ratified in 1878, but it

136-445: A Republican, addressed a wide range of issues, from banking to liquor license taxes and employee reimbursements. Perhaps his greatest successes were in state fund management; his recommendations regarding military taxes and lending from school funds saved taxpayers—and the state—money. Republican Charles Clausen succeeded Atkison in 1905 and became Washington's first long-serving state auditor. During his 28-year term, he greatly expanded

170-474: A constitution. The voters of the territory approved the constitution in November 1878 with a vote of 6,537 in favor and 3,236 opposed. Congress, however, did not pass the statehood bill introduced by Jacobs. Washington Territory's next Delegate, Thomas H. Brents , also failed to get a statehood bill passed with the 1878 constitution. Later statehood bills abandoned the 1878 constitution and instead called for

204-482: A core part of the Washington State Auditor's Office mission, such as placing the public welfare before personal interests and the welfare of the state before partisanship. He added several key tasks to the auditor's duties, including investigating discrepancies in the accounting and reporting of budgets. He was succeeded by Leban R. Grimes from 1893 to 1895, who continued Reed's agenda ensuring that

238-417: A good fit and the place where I can best contribute and focus on my values.” On June 11, 2012, Sonntag endorsed Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna for Governor and became chairman of Democrats for Rob (D4R). In September 2011, Sonntag announced he would retire from the office of State Auditor: "In the past week, I made a difficult decision not to seek re-election as Washington State Auditor in 2012. It

272-420: A position she held from 1987–1999. She then became the deputy auditor for Pierce County in 1999. She was then elected and served as county auditor in 2002 and 2006. She served from 2003–2008. In 2008, McCarthy was then elected to serve two terms as Pierce County executive, from 2009 to 2017. As county executive , McCarthy was tasked with running the daily operations of the county, including overseeing

306-423: A similar vein, the state auditor investigates allegations of waste , fraud , or abuse of public funds. Altogether, 2,400 or so governmental entities and some $ 170 billion in public spending are subject to the state auditor's oversight. Other programs have been assigned to the state auditor by law. For example, the state auditor prescribes uniform systems of accounting and financial reporting consistent with

340-477: A state constitutional convention. Although never approved by Congress, the 1878 constitution is an important historical document which shows the political thinking of the time. It was used extensively during the drafting of the 1889 document, the one and only official Constitution of the State of Washington. In December 1888, Congress introduced an act to enable Washington, North Dakota , South Dakota , and Montana to become states. Among other requirements in

374-774: Is a Democrat . Sonntag was born in 1951 in Tacoma, Washington . He attended Tacoma Community College and the University of Puget Sound . He and his wife Jann live in Tacoma. They have five sons and three grandchildren. Sonntag has served on the boards of United Way and the Boys and Girls Clubs . He has volunteered for the YMCA and the March of Dimes and has also spent several years coaching youth baseball and basketball teams. Sonntag

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408-635: The Enabling Act of 1889 , Congress asked each prospective state to draft and ratify a state constitution. An election was held to choose 75 delegates to frame a constitution for the State of Washington. The elected delegates assembled on July 4, 1889, in the Territorial Capitol Building in Olympia and labored through the summer to draft a constitution that would form the basis for all future Washington laws. On August 23, 1889,

442-538: The Populist Party and believed that "a man has no more right to use powers delegated to him by the people, while he holds an official position, for selfish or personal ends than he would have to use public funds committed to his trust for similar purpose". Support for the Populist Party waned and Cheetham lost the next election to John D. Atkinson who served from 1901 to 1905. During his term, Atkinson,

476-554: The United States Department of Justice for mortgage fraud in 2015. The mission of the office is to hold state and local governments accountable for the use of public funds. Pat McCarthy was elected Washington state auditor on November 8, 2016. She assumed office on January 11, 2017. McCarthy began her career in public service as an elected school board director for the Tacoma School District ,

510-532: The Office. Graham died in April 2014. Brian Sonntag became Washington's ninth auditor with his election as a Democrat in 1993. Sonntag prioritized raising the public profile of the Office, and championed government compliance with open meeting and public records laws. Under his tenure, the office saw significant expansion of its powers to conduct performance audits. Initiative 900, approved by 57% of voters, authorized

544-577: The convention concluded its work. Miles C. Moore , the last governor of Washington Territory , called for an election to be held on October 1, 1889, to ratify the state constitution and elect the officers of the new state government. A vote of 40,152 to 11,879 approved the Washington State Constitution. A certified copy of the Constitution of the State of Washington was sent by courier to President Harrison whose approval

578-596: The duties of the Office, adding "the Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices" to his responsibilities. This bureau's role was to "establish a system of uniform financial accounting and reporting by counties, cities, towns, townships and school districts". Following Clausen, the first Washington-born state auditor, Cliff Yelle, served terms from 1933 to 1965. The Democrat was notable for refusing to pay 13 vouchers that lame-duck officials submitted for purported vacation pay. The officials protested Yelle's decision all

612-473: The elected state auditor are essential to improving the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of the state's transportation system." Despite the bill's passage, Sonntag faced resistance from the transportation committee as he moved forward with the audit. On June 13, 2011, Sonntag announced he was considering a run for the 2012 Gubernatorial race. However, on July 5 Sonntag said he had decided not to run for Governor: “The Office of State Auditor continues to be

646-591: The establishment of a fraud unit designed to detect and prevent fraud, the development of a uniform Budgeting Accounting and Reporting System (BARS) that applied to all local government, and the consolidation of the statewide, federal Single Audit Acts (also known as the SWSA). In 1982, the Legislature authorized the Whistleblower Program, allowing public employees to report waste of public resources to

680-718: The fact he is not a CPA has drawn criticism from some of his constituents. One of the most publicized issues involving the Auditor's Office in 2006 was its performance audit of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Sonntag's office examined the WSDOT's inventory and project management, as well as its overall administration and overhead. Always a hot topic of debate, traffic congestion in Seattle caused many commuters to look more closely at what

714-499: The position of Territorial Auditor. The territorial auditor was tasked with "maintaining records of all receipts and disbursements, a 'pre-audit' settlement of all claims and the issuance of warrants". In 1864, the Legislative Assembly tasked Territorial Auditor Urban E. Hicks with "...the duty...to report such plans as he may deem expedient for the support of the public credit; for lessening the public expenses; for using

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748-500: The pronouncements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for each of Washington's myriad counties, cities, towns, school districts, and other political subdivisions. Likewise, the state auditor supports local governments with advice and training on best practices in public administration , assesses compliance with Washington's open meeting and public records laws, and administers

782-439: The public good was placed before partisan interests. Grimes died suddenly in office, and Governon John H. McGraw appointed J.E. Frost to serve out Grimes' term from 1895 to 1897. Frost used many of the same financial models as his predecessor's and was optimistic about the overall solvency of the state despite the recession of the late 1890s. Neal Cheetham replaced Frost in 1897, serving as auditor until 1901. Cheetham belonged to

816-433: The public money to the best advantage and for promoting frugality and economy in regard to the fiscal affairs of the territory." Urban E. Hicks: 1858–1859,1865–1867 A.J. Moses: 1859–1860 J.C. Head: 1860–1862 R.M. Walker: 1862–1864 John Miller Murphy: 1867–1870, 1873–1874, 1888–Statehood (1889) Thomas Reed (served from 1889 to 1893) was Washington's first state auditor. He established many values that still form

850-597: The public retained him as auditor for 32 years, during which time the number local governments and state agencies audited by the Office more than doubled to 1,950. Robert V. Graham took office from Yelle in 1965 and served seven terms until his retirement in 1993. Graham, a Democrat, would describe the role of the state auditor as a "window into state and local government for Washington citizens." To that end, Graham endeavored to bring audits of government performance into his Office's responsibilities, but legislative action in 1971 prevented him from doing so. Among his successes were

884-481: The state auditor to conduct independent performance audits of state and local governments. Sonntag did not seek re-election in 2012 and was succeeded by Troy Kelley . Troy Kelley , the 10th state auditor, was inaugurated in January 2013 and completed his term in office in January 2017. For nine months during his term, he took a leave of absence and was replaced by Acting State Auditor Jan Jutte after his indictment by

918-665: The state was admitted to the Union. Much of this article is adapted from material copied from the website of the Washington Secretary of State, a public domain resource; see About the Office: Web Sites Privacy Policy under Public Domain & Copyright Information. Brian Sonntag Brian S. Sonntag (born December 28, 1951) was the ninth Washington State Auditor . He served five terms, from 1993 until his retirement in 2013. He

952-651: The vote. Sonntag is a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), a designation formally recognized by seven states since its inception in 1994. He has been a member of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, State Productivity Board and the National State Auditors Association's Performance Audit Task Force. Although four of the fourteen members of his executive team at the State Auditor's Office are CPAs,

986-561: The way to the state Supreme Court, but Yelle won the case and set the stage for cracking down on wasteful government spending. In 1941, the Legislature expanded the Office's authority to conduct annual audits of every state agency. Yelle also developed the investigative role of the auditor's office, probing the Highway Department's use of public funds to purchase luxury vehicles and accumulate other unnecessary costs. While government officials criticized Yelle for these investigations,

1020-406: Was a tough call, but it is the right decision. At the end of my current term, I will have served 20 years in this Office and 40 years in public service – 35 in elected office. Based on what we have accomplished and what we will continue to do on behalf of citizens, the 2012 election is the right time for the Office to transition to new leadership." He was succeeded by Troy Kelley . On May 7, 1999,

1054-457: Was being done to alleviate the problem. One sign that legislators were attempting to address the problem came in the form of SB 6839. The State Auditor was granted legal authority to conduct performance audits of transportation-related agencies on June 7, 2006, the effective date of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6839. Section 5.2.c of the bill states, "Fair, independent, comprehensive performance audits of transportation-related agencies overseen by

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1088-520: Was first elected to public office in 1978 as Pierce County Clerk , working as the administrative officer for the Superior Courts. On November 4, 1986, he was elected to the office of Pierce County Auditor , an office his father, Jack W. Sonntag, had held from 1948 to 1969. Following the end of his second term, Sonntag was elected Washington State Auditor on November 3, 1992. He was re-elected four times, most recently in 2008 with 70 percent of

1122-499: Was necessary before Washington was proclaimed a state. Days went by with no word; finally, on November 4, 1889, a message was received, stating that Governor Moore forgot to sign the Constitution and President Harrison could not approve it. Overnight a new copy was prepared, and it was sent to the President by courier the next day. On November 11, 1889, the President issued a proclamation declaring Washington's Constitution approved, and

1156-741: Was never officially adopted. In 1877 Orange Jacobs , Washington Territory 's Delegate to U.S. Congress , requested an enabling act that would allow Washington to become a state as soon as a state constitution was drafted and ratified by the voters. At the same time, an act was passed by the Washington Territorial Legislative Assembly to convene a constitutional convention . Without waiting for action by Congress, Washington's voters elected fifteen delegates who met in Walla Walla in June and July 1878 and drafted

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