South Carolina Comptroller General

South Carolina Comptroller General
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$151,000
2024 FY Budget:	$4,690,395
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
South Carolina Comptroller General Brian Gaines Democratic Party Assumed office: May 12, 2023
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other South Carolina Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Comptroller • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The South Carolina Comptroller General is an elected executive official in the South Carolina state government. The comptroller is the state's top accountant and chief fiscal watchdog, responsible for supervising state spending, keeping the state's books and maintaining accounting controls over state agencies. This office is up for election every four years during federal midterm elections (i.e. 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030).

Current officeholder

The acting South Carolina Comptroller General is Brian Gaines (D). Gaines assumed office in 2023.

Authority

Article VI, Section 7 of the South Carolina Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State a Secretary of State, an Attorney General, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Education, Comptroller General, Commissioner of Agriculture, and an Adjutant General who shall hold their respective offices for a term of four years, coterminous with that of the Governor. The duties and compensation of such offices shall be prescribed by law and their compensation shall be neither increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected. Beginning upon the expiration of the term of the Adjutant General serving in office on the date of the ratification of the provisions of this paragraph, the Adjutant General must be appointed by the Governor, upon the advice and consent of the Senate. The appointed Adjutant General shall serve for a term not coterminous with the Governor and may be removed only for cause. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the term, duties, compensation, and qualifications for office, the procedures by which the appointment is made, and the procedures by which the Adjutant General may be removed from office.

Qualifications

Article VI, Section 1 of the South Carolina Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

No person may be popularly elected to and serve in any office in this State or its political subdivisions unless he possesses the qualifications of an elector, is not disqualified by age as prescribed in this Constitution, and has not been convicted of a felony under state or federal law or convicted of tampering with a voting machine, fraudulent registration or voting, bribery at elections, procuring or offering to procure votes by bribery, voting more than once at elections, impersonating a voter, or swearing falsely at elections/taking oath in another's name, or has not pled guilty or nolo contendere [no contest] to these offenses. However, notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, this prohibition does not apply to a person who has been pardoned under state or federal law or to a person who files for public office fifteen years or more after the completion date of service of the sentence, including probation and parole time, nor shall any person, serving in office prior to the ratification of this provision, be required to vacate the office to which he is elected. No person may be elected or appointed to office in this State for life or during good behavior, but the terms of all officers must be for some specified period except officers in the militia.

• possess the qualities of an elector
• not disqualified by age as prescribed in this Constitution
• has not been convicted of a felony under state or federal law or convicted of tampering with a voting machine, fraudulent registration or voting, bribery at elections, procuring or offering to procure votes by bribery, voting more than once at elections, impersonating a voter, or swearing falsely at elections/taking oath in another's name, or has not pled guilty or no contest to these offenses

Elections

Article VI, Section 7 of the state constitution stipulates the comptroller is elected every four years, to a term of four years. The comptroller, like South Carolina's other executive officials, is elected in mid-term elections (i.e. 2018, 2022 and 2026).

2022

See also: South Carolina Comptroller election, 2022

General election

General election for South Carolina Comptroller General

Incumbent Richard Eckstrom won election in the general election for South Carolina Comptroller General on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Eckstrom (R)	98.2	1,229,879
		Other/Write-in votes	1.8	22,407

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,252,286
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Richard Eckstrom advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina Comptroller General.

2018

See also: South Carolina Comptroller election, 2018

General election

General election for South Carolina Comptroller General

Incumbent Richard Eckstrom won election in the general election for South Carolina Comptroller General on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Eckstrom (R)	97.8	1,136,932
		Other/Write-in votes	2.2	26,028

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,162,960
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for South Carolina Comptroller General

Incumbent Richard Eckstrom advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina Comptroller General on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Richard Eckstrom

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Full history

2014

See also: South Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Republican incumbent Richard Eckstrom won re-election on November 4, 2014.

South Carolina Controller, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Eckstrom Incumbent	59.8%	728,549
	Democratic	Kyle Herbert	40.1%	489,066
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	693
Total Votes				1,218,308
Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission

To view the electoral history dating back to 2002 for the office of South Carolina Comptroller General, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Richard A. Eckstrom won re-election to the office of South Carolina Comptroller General. He defeated Robert Barber (D) in the general election. South Carolina Comptroller General, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Richard A. Eckstrom Incumbent 56.5% 746,841      Democratic Robert Barber 43.4% 574,302      Write-In Various 0.1% 719 Total Votes 1,321,862 Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission. 2006 On November 7, 2006, Richard Eckstrom won re-election to the office of South Carolina Comptroller General. He defeated Drew Theodore (D) in the general election. South Carolina Comptroller General, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Richard Eckstrom Incumbent 53.3% 571,454      Democratic Drew Theodore 46.7% 501,122      Write-In Various 0% 373 Total Votes 1,072,949 Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission. 2002 On November 5, 2002, Richard A. Eckstrom won election to the office of South Carolina Comptroller General. He defeated Jim Lander (D) in the general election. South Carolina Comptroller General, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Richard A. Eckstrom 54.5% 583,079      Democratic Jim Lander Incumbent 45.4% 485,748      Write-In Various 0% 283 Total Votes 1,069,110 Election results via South Carolina State Election Commission.

Vacancies

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches the constitutional or statutory text that details the process of filling vacancies for a state executive office. That information for the South Carolina Comptroller General 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.

Duties

The mission of the comptroller's office is to "serve the Legislature, Judiciary, Executive offices, state agencies, and the citizens of South Carolina by providing centralized payroll and vendor payment processing and centralized accounting and reporting of financial data in accordance with the statewide program budget structure mandated by the General Assembly and in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)."

The main duties of the office include:

• supervising the state's spending
• keeping the state's books
• maintaining accounting controls over state agencies
• processing all payrolls for state employees, vouchers for bills owed by the state and interdepartmental payments between state agencies

The comptroller also sits on the State Budget & Control Board.

Click here to view larger-scale image of the South Carolina Comptroller General's office Organizational Chart as of September 15, 2011.

Divisions

• Statewide Financial Reporting provides centralized reporting of the state's financial activities. The office produces the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
• Statewide Accounting provides centralized accounting of the state's financial activities. The office monitors agencies financial activities to ensure compliance with the Annual Appropriation Act and responds to FOIA requests.
• Statewide Accounts Payroll Payable provides centralized payroll for state employees. The office reviews requests for reimbursement from state agencies to ensure compliance with state law.
• Administrative Services provides executive leadership and administrative services to support the agency's functions.

State budget

See also: South Carolina state budget and finances

The budget for the comptroller's office in Fiscal Year 2024 was $4,690,395.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

2024

In 2024, the officer's salary was $151,000, according to the South Carolina Department of Administration.

2021

In 2021, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the comptroller received a salary of $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the comptroller was paid an estimated $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

2010

In 2010, the comptroller was paid an estimated $92,007, according to the Council of State Governments.

Historical officeholder

There have been 16 comptrollers since 1890.

List of Former Officeholders from 1890-Present
#	Name	Tenure
1	William H. Ellerbe	1890-1894
2	James W. Horton	1894-1897
3	Layfayette P. Epton	1897-1899
4	John P. Derham	1899-1903
5	Adolphus W. Jones	1903-1915
6	Carlton W. Sawyer	1915-1918
7	R. Lyles Osborne	1918-1920
8	Wilbert Sutherland	1920-1921
9	Walter E. Duncan	1921-1925
10	A. J. Beattie	1925-1943
11	Eldridge C. Rhodes	1943-1967
12	J. Henry Mills	1967-1976
13	Earle E. Morris Jr.	1976-1999
14	James A. Lander	1999-2003
15	Richard Eckstrom	2003-2023
16	Brian Gaines	2023-present

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms South Carolina Comptroller General. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

South Carolina Comptroller General - Google News

Contact information

South Carolina Comptroller General
1200 Senate Street
305 Wade Hampton Office Building
Columbia, SC 29201

Phone: (803) 734-2121
Fax: (803) 734-2064

External links

Suggest a link

• South Carolina Comptroller General's Office