The auditor of public accounts of Kentucky is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Forty-seven individuals have occupied the auditor's office since statehood. The incumbent is Allison Ball, a Republican.

Powers and duties The auditor of public accounts "...ensures that public resources are protected, accurately valued, properly accounted for, and effectively employed to raise the quality of life of Kentuckians." More specifically, the auditor of public accounts conducts an array of external audits which examine financial condition, legal compliance, information technology systems, and program performance in governmental entities. The auditor's scope of authority extends to all state agencies, every public or private entity that receives state funds, all state-owned or operated enterprises such as prisons and public works, and every county, municipality, and school district in the commonwealth.

History Initially, the auditor of public accounts served as a comptroller and tax collector for state government. The Reorganization Act of 1936 transferred those functions to other state agencies and established the auditor's office as "...an impartial agency entirely independent of state administration and charged with the responsibility of auditing the accounts and financial transactions of all Commonwealth spending agencies." Government auditing remains the primary function of the auditor's office to this day.

List of auditors No. Image Name Term1 William McDowell 1792–17962 George Madison 1796–18163 John Madison 1816–18204 Porter Clay 18205 Ben Shelby 1820–18346 Thomas Scudder Page 1834–18467 H. Q. Bradley 1846–18488 John Baylor Temple 1848–18509 James A. Barbour 1850–18519 Thomas Scudder Page 1851–185910 Grant Green 1859–186311 A. T. Samuels 1863–186712 D. Howard Smith 1867–187913 Fayette Hewitt 1879–188714 L. C. Norman 1887–189615 Samuel Hanson Stone 1896–190016 John S. Sweeney 190017 Gus G. Coulter 1900–190418 Samuel Wilber Hager 1904–190819 Frank P. Jones 1908–191220 Henry M. Bosworth 1912–191621 Robert L. Greene 1916–191922 T. M. Jones 1919–192023 John J. Craig 1920–192424 William H. Shanks 1924–192825 Clell Coleman 1928–193226 J. Dan Talbott 1932–193627 E. E. Shannon 1936–194028 David A. Logan 1940–194329 B. L. Sparks 1943–194730 Charles I. Ross 194731 W. D. Bratcher 1947–194832 Harry Newman Jones 1948–195233 T. Herbert Tinsley 1952–195634 Mary Louise Foust 1956–196035 Joseph W. Schneider 1960–196436 Henry H. Carter 1964–196837 Clyde Conley 1968–196938 James Thompson 1969–197039 Mary Louise Foust 1970–197640 George L. Atkins 1976–198041 James B. Graham 1980–198442 Mary Ann Tobin 1984–198843 Bob Babbage 1988–199244 Ben Chandler 1992–199645 Ed Hatchett 1996–200446 Crit Luallen 2004–201247 Adam Edelen 2012–201648 Mike Harmon 2016–202449 Allison Ball 2024–present https://www.auditor.ky.gov/About/Pages/AuditorsOfficeHistory.aspx

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