Illinois Treasurer

Treasurer of Illinois
Seal of Illinois
Incumbent Mike Frerichs since January 12, 2015
Term length	Four years, no term limits
Inaugural holder	John Thomas
Formation	October 2, 1818 (1818-10-02)
Salary	$135,669 (2016)[1]
Website	illinoistreasurer.gov

The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois.

Incumbent

The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head the State Treasury in 2014 in a close race with Republican Party candidate Tom Cross.

Duties of the Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible, pursuant to Article V, Section 18 of the state constitution, for the safekeeping and investment of the monies and securities deposited in the public funds of Illinois. As such, the Treasurer is not the chief financial officer of Illinois. That post is reserved for a separate elected official, the Comptroller.^[2] Rather, the Treasurer functions as the chief banking and investment officer of the state.^[3]

The Illinois Constitution provides that the treasurer must, at the time of his or her election, be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of the state for at least 3 years preceding the election.^[2]

The Treasurer is fifth (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Comptroller, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Illinois.^[4][5]

The Treasurer's office operates a web page describing the office's powers and duties.^[6]

List of office holders

#	Image	Name	Political Party	Term
1		John Thomas	Democratic-Republican	1818–1819
2		R. K. McLaughlin	Democratic-Republican	1819–1823
3		Abner Field	Democratic-Republican	1823–1827
4		James Hall	Democratic	1827–1831
5		John Dement	Democratic	1831–1836
6		Charles Gregory	Democratic	1836–1837
7		John D. Whiteside	Democratic	1837–1841
8		Milton Carpenter	Democratic	1841–1848
9		John Moore	Democratic	1848–1857
10		James Miller	Republican	1857–1859
11		William Butler	Republican	1859–1863
12		Alexander Starne	Democratic	1863–1865
13		James H. Beveridge	Republican	1865–1867
14		George W. Smith	Republican	1867–1869
15		Erastus N. Bates	Republican	1869–1873
16		Edward Rutz	Republican	1873–1875
17		Thomas S. Ridgway	Republican	1875–1877
18		Edward Rutz	Republican	1877–1879
19		John C. Smith	Republican	1879–1881
20		Edward Rutz	Republican	1881–1883
21		John C. Smith	Republican	1883–1885
22		Jacob Gross	Republican	1885–1887
23		John Riley Tanner	Republican	1887–1889
24		Charles Becker	Republican	1889–1891
25		Edward S. Wilson	Democratic	1891–1893
26		Rufus N. Ramsay	Democratic	1893–1894
27		Elijah P. Ramsay	Democratic	1894–1895
28		Henry Wulff	Republican	1895–1897
29		Henry L. Hertz	Republican	1897–1899
30		Floyd K. Whittlemore	Republican	1899–1901
31		Moses O. Williamson	Republican	1901–1903
32		Fred A. Busse	Republican	1903–1905
33		Len Small	Republican	1905–1907
34		John F. Smulski	Republican	1907–1909
35		Andrew Russel	Republican	1909–1911
36		Edward E. Mitchell	Republican	1911–1913
37		William Ryan Jr.	Democratic	1913–1915
38		Andrew Russel	Republican	1915–1917
39		Len Small	Republican	1917–1919
40		Fred E. Sterling	Republican	1919–1921
41		Edward E. Miller	Republican	1921–1923
42		Oscar Nelson	Republican	1923–1925
43		Omer N. Custer	Republican	1925–1927
44		Garrett D. Kinney	Republican	1927–1929
45		Omer N. Custer	Republican	1929–1931
46		Edward J. Barrett	Democratic	1931–1933
47		John C. Martin	Democratic	1933–1935
48		John Henry Stelle	Democratic	1935–1937
49		John C. Martin	Democratic	1937–1939
50		Louie E. Lewis	Democratic	1939–1941
51		Warren Wright	Republican	1941–1943
52		William G. Stratton	Republican	1943–1945
53		Conrad F. Becker	Republican	1945–1947
54		Richard Yates Rowe	Republican	1947–1949
55		Ora Smith	Democratic	1949–1951
56		William G. Stratton	Republican	1951–1953
57		Elmer J. Hoffman	Republican	1953–1955
58		Warren Wright	Republican	1955–1957
59		Elmer J. Hoffman	Republican	1957–1959
60		Joseph D. Lohman	Democratic	1959–1961
61		Francis S. Lorenz	Democratic	1961–1963
62		William J. Scott	Republican	1963–1967
63		Adlai Stevenson III	Democratic	1967–1970
64		Charles W. Woodford	Democratic	1970–1971
65		Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	1971–1977
66		Donald R. Smith	Republican	1977–1979
67		Jerome Cosentino	Democratic	1979–1983
68		James Donnewald	Democratic	1983–1987
69		Jerome Cosentino	Democratic	1987–1991
70		Pat Quinn	Democratic	1991–1995
71		Judy Baar Topinka	Republican	1995–2007
72		Alexi Giannoulias	Democratic	2007–2011
73		Dan Rutherford	Republican	2011–2015
74		Mike Frerichs	Democratic	2015–present

^{[7] [8] [9]}

Proposals to merge with Comptroller

Some observers have perceived an overlap between the offices of Treasurer of Illinois and Comptroller of Illinois, and have therefore proposed constitutional amendments to merge the two offices and earn administrative savings. For example, HJRCA 14, considered by the Illinois General Assembly in 2007-2008, would have merged the two offices into the office of a single State Fiscal Officer.^[10]

In 2011, the incumbent Treasurer along with the Comptroller (also former Treasurer) Judy Baar Topinka introduced legislation to allow voters to decide whether the offices should be merged.^[11] The legislation was opposed by Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.^[12]

References

External links

• Media related to State treasurers of Illinois at Wikimedia Commons
• Illinois State Treasurer's Office

This page was last edited on 20 March 2024, at 19:46