SUSANA MENDOZA

By law, the Illinois Comptroller pays the State's bills and monitors State funds. The duties of this independently elected four-year term officer (meaning that this officer does not report to another four-year term officer) can be found in Section 17 of Article V of the Illinois Constitution... The Illinois Comptroller is the Chief Fiscal and Accountability Officer for the State of Illinois, responsible for the legal, efficient, and effective operations of the state's finances - i.e. your taxpayer dollars... The predecessor to the Office of Illinois Comptroller was the Auditor of Public Accounts who handled both State's money (Treasurer) and ordered payments to be made with that money (Comptroller). Between 1952 and 1956, Orville Hodge embezzled $6.15 million of State funds, mainly by altering and forging checks that were paid on the State's account.

Primary location: Chicago United States