Utah Treasurer

	Utah Treasurer
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$149,040
2024 FY Budget:	$5,536,800
Term limits:	None
	Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Utah Constitution, Article VII, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder
	Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks; Republican Party; Assumed office: 2021-07-20
	Elections
Next election:	November 5, 2024
Last election:	November 8, 2022 (special)
	Other Utah Executive Offices
	Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Attorney General •Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Treasurer of Utah is an elected executive position in the Utah state government. The treasurer is the state's chief financial officer, responsible for the management of taxpayer dollars. As the custodian of public money and the central bank for state agencies, the treasurer oversees the collection, safeguarding, investment and disbursement of state funds.^[1]

Current officeholder[edit]

The current Utah Treasurer is Marlo Oaks (R). Oaks assumed office in 2021.

Authority[edit]

The office of treasurer is established in Article VII, Section 1 of the state Constitution.

Article VII, Section 1:

The elective constitutional officers of the Executive Department shall consist of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Attorney General...^[2]

Qualifications[edit]

Article VII, Section 3 of the Utah Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

To be eligible for the office of State Auditor or State Treasurer a person shall be 25 years of age or older at the time of election.
No person is eligible to any of the offices provided for in Section 1 unless at the time of election that person is a qualified voter and has been a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding the election.^[2]

Elections[edit]

Utah state government organizational chart

According to Article VII, Section 2 of the state Constitution, Utah voters elect the treasurer. Per Article VII, Section 1, the newly elected treasurer takes office beginning on the first Monday of January next after the election.

...every four years at the time and place of voting for members of the Legislature. The candidates respectively having the highest number of votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected. If two or more candidates have an equal and the highest number of votes for any one of the offices, the two houses of the Legislature at its next session shall elect by joint ballot one of those candidates for that office.^[2]

2024[edit]

See also: Utah Treasurer election, 2024

General election candidates

Note: The list of general election candidates is incomplete pending results from the primary.

Democratic primary candidates

Note: The list of Democratic Party primary candidates is incomplete pending results from the convention.

Republican primary candidates

Note: The list of Republican Party primary candidates is incomplete pending results from the convention.

Democratic convention candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Neil Hansen

Republican convention candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Marlo Oaks (Incumbent)

Minor Party convention candidates

Utah Forward Party

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Miles Pomeroy

2022[edit]

See also: Utah Treasurer election, 2022

Special election[edit]

General election candidates

Marlo Oaks (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Warren Rogers (Independent American Party of Utah)
Joseph Geddes Buchman (Libertarian Party)
Thomas Horne (United Utah Party)

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Democratic primary candidates

The Democratic Party primary was canceled.

Republican primary candidates

This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:

Marlo Oaks (Incumbent) ✔

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Minor Party primary candidates

Independent American Party of Utah

This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:

Warren Rogers ✔

Libertarian Party

This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:

Joseph Geddes Buchman ✔

United Utah Party

This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:

Thomas Horne ✔

Republican convention candidates

Marlo Oaks (Incumbent) ✔

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Minor Party convention candidates

Independent American Party of Utah

Warren Rogers ✔

Libertarian Party

Joseph Geddes Buchman ✔

United Utah Party

Thomas Horne ✔

2020[edit]

See also: Utah Treasurer election, 2020

General election candidates

David Damschen (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Richard Proctor (Constitution Party)
Joseph Speciale (Libertarian Party)

Democratic primary candidates

The Democratic Party primary was canceled.

Republican primary candidates

The Republican Party primary was canceled.

Republican convention candidates

David Damschen (Incumbent) ✔

2016[edit]

See also: Utah Treasurer election, 2016

The general election for treasurer was held on November 8, 2016.

Incumbent David Damschen defeated Neil Hansen and Richard Proctor in the Utah treasurer election.

Utah Treasurer, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Damschen Incumbent	61.23%	652,704
	Democratic	Neil Hansen	31.70%	337,994
	Constitution Party	Richard Proctor	7.07%	75,363
Total Votes				1,066,061
Source: Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office-Elections

Full history[edit]

To view the electoral history dating back to 2000 for the office of Utah Treasurer, click [show] to expand the section.

2012

See also: Utah down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Incumbent Richard Ellis (R) won re-election in 2012. He defeated Christopher Stout (D) and Vincent Marcus (L) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

Utah Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Christopher Stout	28.1%	247,277
	Republican	Richard Ellis Incumbent	66.9%	589,045
	Libertarian	Vincent Marcus	5%	44,257
Total Votes				880,579
Election results via Utah Lieutenant Governor (dead link)

2008

On November 4, 2008, Richard K. Ellis won election to the office of Utah Treasurer. He defeated Dick Clark in the general election.

Utah Treasurer, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard K. Ellis	66.7%	604,091
	Democratic	Dick Clark	33.3%	302,247
Total Votes				906,338
Election results via Elections.utah.gov.

2004

On November 2, 2004, Edward T. Alter won re-election to the office of Utah Treasurer. He defeated Debbie Hansen (D) and three minor party candidates in the general election.

Utah Treasurer, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Edward T. Alter Incumbent	61.2%	536,606
	Democratic	Debbie Hansen	33.2%	291,179
	Personal Choice	Mary A. Petersen	3.1%	27,553
	Libertarian	Jim Elwell	2.4%	20,961
	Independent	David J. Murtha	0%	2
Total Votes				876,301
Election results via Our Campaigns.

2000

On November 7, 2000, Edward T. Alter won re-election to the office of Utah Treasurer. He defeated Hugh A. Butler (L) and Elliot J. Hulet (NL) in the general election.

Utah Treasurer, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Edward T. Alter Incumbent	82.9%	532,372
	Libertarian	Hugh A. Butler	12.7%	81,697
	NL	Elliot J. Hulet	4.3%	27,778
Total Votes				641,847
Election results via Elections.utah.gov.

Vacancies[edit]

In the event of a vacancy in the office of treasurer, Article VII, Section 10 of the state constitution allows the governor to fill the vacancy by appointment. The appointee must be from the same political party as the removed officer, and shall hold the office until a successor is elected and qualified.^[2]

Duties[edit]

As of January 2021, the treasurer's website listed the following duties:^[1]

“

Banking and Cash Management

As the state’s custodian of public funds, the Office of State Treasurer manages the state’s banking relationships, cash collection and concentration from state agencies, the funding of disbursements, and reconciliation of state bank accounts.

The office continuously identifies and implements improvements to business processes and related technologies, which maximize efficiency, limit costs, and control risk. A few examples of these initiatives include:

Initiate a competitive procurement process for the state’s merchant services contract saving $5.7 million.
Maximize interest earned on state cash by implementing processes and technology that has allowed the office to reduce idle cash balances in bank accounts by $30 million.
Work strategically with state agencies to implement new banking technologies, including remote deposit capture, disbursement technologies, collection technologies, and image cash letter to name a few.

Investments

The office administers the $18 billion Public Treasurers’ Investment Fund (PTIF), which provides daily liquidity to state agencies and more than 700 local government entities throughout Utah. The PTIF consistently performs better than other state pools of similar duration.

The office also administers several long-horizon investment portfolios and a number of statutorily required government escrow accounts.

Debt Management

The State Bonding Commission and State Building Ownership Authority have authority to initiate the issuance of bonds from legislative debt authorizations. The Office of State Treasurer executes on these authorizations by orchestrating all debt issuance of the state, prepares and disseminates post-issuance market disclosures, and maintains investor, underwriter and rating agency relations.

The office maintains the accounting of all debt issued as well as a debt model to inform state officials on impact and timing of contemplated debt offerings.

In addition, the treasurer chairs and the office staffs the Utah Charter School Finance Authority (UCSFA), which provides municipal market access to Utah charter schools issuing debt. As part of these duties, UCSFA, with support from treasury tstaff, administers the state’s credit enhancement program to qualifying Utah charter schools providing significant savings to Utah schools.

Unclaimed Property

Millions of dollars in unclaimed property is turned over to the state every year. This money comes for sources like dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, safe deposit box contents, and unpaid insurance benefits.

When a business owes money to an individual it cannot find, it remits those funds to the state’s Unclaimed Property Division after three years of non-contact with the owner.

In calendar year 2019, the Division received 380,221 unclaimed properties totaling $56.4 million, and it reunited a record-breaking $40.6 million in lost property with rightful owners in fiscal year 2020 (July 2019 - June 2020).

Ex Officio Board Responsibilities
The Office of State Treasurer also provides essential support to a diverse range of public bodies and programs, including the:

School and Institutional Trust Fund
State Bonding Commission
State Building Ownership Authority
Utah Charter School Finance Authority
Utah Money Management Council
Utah Retirement Systems
Utah Housing Corporation
Utah Navajo Trust Fund
Permanent Community Impact Board (CIB)
State Post-Retirement Benefit Trust Fund
Elected Official Post-Retirement Benefit Trust Fund
Utah Capital Investment Board
Private Activity Bond Authority
Board of Canvassers
Water Development Coordinating Council
Capitol Preservation Board
Utah Council on Financial and Economic Education
Martha Hughes Cannon Statue Oversight Committee
Executive Water Finance Board^[3]

”

Divisions[edit]

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Utah Treasurer has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget[edit]

See also: Utah state budget and finances

The budget for the State Treasurer's office in Fiscal Year 2024 was $5,536,800.^[4]

Compensation[edit]

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

See statutes: UT Code § 67-22-1 (2014)

The treasurer, along with Utah's other elected executives, is entitled to a fixed salary, pursuant to Article VII, Section 18 of the Utah Constitution.

The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and any other state officer as the Legislature may provide, shall receive for their services a fixed and definite compensation as provided by law.

The amount of compensation the treasurer receives annually is set by Title 67, Chapter 22, Section 1 of the Utah Code.^[5]