Illinois State Comptroller

The Comptroller's Office was created by the Constitutional Convention of 1970 as an expanded replacement for the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts. The Office of the Comptroller traces its ancestry to 1799, when an auditor of public accounts was established under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory. Elijah Conway Berry served as Auditor of Public Accounts when Illinois was a territory of the United States, and continued his duties as Auditor when Illinois became a state in 1818. Berry's successor, James Stapp, took office when he was only 27 years of age.