California Controller
Duties and Responsibilities

The State Controller is the chief fiscal officer of the state, is elected at the same time and places and in the same matter as the Governor, for a maximum of two four-year terms, and is sixth officer next in line of succession to the office of Governor.

No money can be drawn from the Treasury unless it is against an appropriation made by law, and upon warrants duly drawn by the Controller.

The Controller must superintend the fiscal affairs of the state and suggest plans for the improvement and management of public revenues, keep all accounts in which the state is interested, and keep a separate account of each specific appropriation, showing at all times the balance of the appropriation.

The Controller supervises the state's fiscal concerns and audits all claims against it. She directs the collections of all moneys due the state, and if necessary, is authorized to go to court to recover the property or money owed. She has general supervision over the general procedure for tax sales, tax deeds, and redemptions, and to this end may make any rules and regulations she deems advisable.

[Taken from: California's Legislature (1994). Republished with permission.]