Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida

The Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal (commonly referred to as State Treasurer) is a former statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was abolished following the Florida Cabinet reforms of 1998 which took effect in 2003.[1]

A statewide office, with a seat in the Cabinet, the official handled the duties of the State Treasurer, Commissioner of Insurance, and Fire Marshal. These duties included payroll, pensions, tax collection, state finances, insurance regulation, and the investigation of fires. The most visible responsibility of the officeholder was as Insurance Commissioner.

Following the Cabinet reform, the office was merged with that of the state Comptroller to create the new office of Chief Financial Officer of Florida, which oversees the Florida Department of Financial Services. The new department contains many of the functions of the previous offices, but has less direct control over insurance regulation than the previous office did. This was done to lessen the control of one person over financial services regulation in the state.

Tom Gallagher was the last Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal and the first CFO. Other persons who held the office included U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and William D. Gunter, Jr.

Officeholders

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Treasurers by party affiliation
Party Treasurers
Democratic 18
Republican 4
Whig 1

Territorial Era (1821–1845)

  • Charles H Austin, Sr. - 1833–1835 (died 1837)
  • Thomas Hall Austin - ? 1838–1840 - ?
  • Henry Livingston Rutgers - 4-Feb-1843–Statehood (see Senate Journal of 4-Feb-1843)
# Image Name Term of Service Political Party
1 Benjamin Byrd 1845–1848 Democratic
2 William R. Hayward 1848–1853 Whig
3 Charles H. Austin, Jr. 1853–1868 Democratic
4   Simon B. Conover 1868–1873 Republican
5 Charles H. Foster 1873–1877 Republican
6 Walter Gwynn 1877–1881 Democratic
7 Henry A. l'Engle 1881–1885 Democratic
8 Edward S. Crill 1885–1889 Democratic
9 Francis J. Pons 1889–1891 Democratic
10 E. J. Triay 1891–1893 Democratic
11 Clarence B. Collins 1893–1897 Democratic
12   James B. Whitfield 1897–1903 Democratic
13   William V. Knott 1903–1912 Democratic
14   J. C. Luning 1912–1928 Democratic
15   William V. Knott 1928–1941 Democratic
16   J. Edwin Larson 1941–1965 Democratic
17 Broward Williams 1965–1971 Democratic
18   Thomas D. O'Malley Jr. 1971–1975 Democratic
19 Phil Ashler 1975–1976 Democratic
20   Bill Gunter 1976–1989 Democratic
21   Tom Gallagher 1989–1995 Republican
22   Bill Nelson 1995–2001 Democratic
23   Tom Gallagher 2001–2003 Republican

References

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  1. ^ Florida, State Library and Archives of. "Florida Governors". Florida Memory. Retrieved 2019-07-23.