The state auditor of South Dakota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. Twenty-seven individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is

Rich Sattgast Richard L. Sattgast is an American politician who serves as the state auditor of South Dakota for the second time having served two terms previously (2003–2011). He formerly served as state treasurer (2011–2019). Early life and education Sat ...

, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Powers and duties

The state auditor is the elected watchdog of state government, scrutinizing and approving the disbursement of public funds paid out of the state treasury. The state auditor exercises this constitutional authority by preauditing all claims and vouchers against the state, issuing warrants on the state treasurer, reconciling fund balances, and submitting reports on the state's financial condition to the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, and various state agencies. The state auditor also administers payroll for state employees. This function entails collecting payroll and withheld federal income taxes from state employees, coordinating deposits with the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

and

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

, filing W-2s for state employees, and auditing payroll data maintained by state agencies and over 700 political subdivisions, including counties, cities, school districts, townships, and water districts. In South Dakota, the state auditor does not postaudit state agencies or local governments. Financial, compliance, and performance audits of state agencies and local governments are instead the responsibility of the Department of Legislative Audit, which is led by an auditor general appointed by the legislature. Likewise, the state auditor does not maintain the state accounting system, design and enforce internal controls, or prepare the state's financial statements. Rather, these functions rest with the Bureau of Finance and Management, a division of the Department of Executive Management that also prepares and manages the state budget. Both the bureau and department are subject to the governor's direction and supervision.

References

{{U.S. State Auditors