The Treasurer of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Seventy-four individuals have occupied the office of Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Mike Frerichs, a Democrat. A former Champaign County auditor and state senator, Frerichs was first elected to lead the state treasury in 2014 following a close race with Republican candidate Tom Cross.

Eligibility and term of office The Treasurer is elected for a renewable four-year term during the quadrennial mid-term election. The Illinois Constitution provides that the Treasurer must, at the time of their election, be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of the state for at least three years preceding the election.

Powers and duties The Treasurer is charged by Article V, Section 18 of the Illinois Constitution with the safekeeping and investment of the monies and securities deposited into the state treasury. As such, the Treasurer is not the chief financial officer of Illinois. That role is occupied by a separate elected official, the Comptroller. Rather, the Treasurer functions as the chief banking and investment officer for the state of Illinois. In this capacity, the Treasurer receives payments made to the state, deposits monies with approved depository institutions, accounts for and manages the state's daily fund balances, directs and administers the investment of the state's portfolio of operating and proprietary funds, arbitrages bonds issued by the Governor, services principal and interest payable on state debt, and disburses public monies in redemption of warrants drawn by the Comptroller.

Other programs have been assigned to the Treasurer's office by law. For example, the Treasurer collects estate taxes due the state, approves the encumbrance of federal funds, offers various impact investment programs to farmers, small businesses and undercapitalized communities, and administers both escheats and unclaimed property accruing to the state. The Treasurer also facilitates tax-advantaged ABLE, college savings, and retirement savings programs to Illinoisans and provides a voluntary local government investment pool to Illinois' 9,600 or so counties, cities, villages, towns, school districts, and other localities. In addition to these routine functions, the Treasurer is concurrently an ex officio member of the State Board of Investment (ISBI), an independent state agency that oversees the investment of Illinois' public pension funds. ISBI's assets under management totaled $31.5 billion at the close of the 2024 fiscal year.

Aside from functional responsibilities, the Treasurer is constitutionally 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.

List of office holders # Image Name Political Party Term1John ThomasDemocratic-Republican1818–18192R. K. McLaughlinDemocratic-Republican1819–18233Abner FieldDemocratic-Republican1823–18274James HallDemocratic1827–18315John DementDemocratic1831–18366Charles GregoryDemocratic1836–18377John D. WhitesideDemocratic1837–18418Milton CarpenterDemocratic1841–18489John MooreDemocratic1848–185710James MillerRepublican1857–185911William ButlerRepublican1859–186312Alexander StarneDemocratic1863–186513James H. BeveridgeRepublican1865–186714George W. SmithRepublican1867–186915Erastus N. BatesRepublican1869–187316Edward RutzRepublican1873–187517Thomas S. RidgwayRepublican1875–187718Edward RutzRepublican1877–187919John C. SmithRepublican1879–188120Edward RutzRepublican1881–188321John C. SmithRepublican1883–188522Jacob GrossRepublican1885–188723John Riley TannerRepublican1887–188924Charles BeckerRepublican1889–189125Edward S. WilsonDemocratic1891–189326Rufus N. RamsayDemocratic1893–189427Elijah P. RamsayDemocratic1894–189528Henry WulffRepublican1895–189729Henry L. HertzRepublican1897–189930Floyd K. WhittemoreRepublican1899–190131Moses O. WilliamsonRepublican1901–190332Fred A. BusseRepublican1903–190533Len SmallRepublican1905–190734John F. SmulskiRepublican1907–190935Andrew RusselRepublican1909–191136Edward E. MitchellRepublican1911–191337William Ryan Jr.Democratic1913–191538Andrew RusselRepublican1915–191739Len SmallRepublican1917–191940Fred E. SterlingRepublican1919–192141Edward E. MillerRepublican1921–192342Oscar NelsonRepublican1923–192543Omer N. CusterRepublican1925–192744Garrett D. KinneyRepublican1927–192945Omer N. CusterRepublican1929–193146Edward J. BarrettDemocratic1931–193347John C. MartinDemocratic1933–193548John Henry StelleDemocratic1935–193749John C. MartinDemocratic1937–193950Louie E. LewisDemocratic1939–194151Warren WrightRepublican1941–194352William G. StrattonRepublican1943–194553Conrad F. BeckerRepublican1945–194754Richard Yates RoweRepublican1947–194955Ora SmithDemocratic1949–195156William G. StrattonRepublican1951–195357Elmer HoffmanRepublican1953–195558Warren WrightRepublican1955–195759Elmer HoffmanRepublican1957–195960Joseph D. LohmanDemocratic1959–196161 Francis S. LorenzDemocratic1961–196362William J. ScottRepublican1963–196763Adlai Stevenson IIIDemocratic1967–197064Charles W. WoodfordDemocratic1970–197165Alan J. DixonDemocratic1971–197766Donald R. SmithRepublican1977–197967Jerome CosentinoDemocratic1979–198368James DonnewaldDemocratic1983–198769Jerome CosentinoDemocratic1987–199170Pat QuinnDemocratic1991–199571Judy Baar TopinkaRepublican1995–200772Alexi GiannouliasDemocratic2007–201173Dan RutherfordRepublican2011–201574Mike FrerichsDemocratic2015–present

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."House Joint Resolution - Constitutional Amendment 14", accessed April 12, 2008.

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. The legislation was opposed by Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.

References

External links

Illinois State Treasurer's Office