In its usual, no-nonsense style, the Twitter account of the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor tweeted on Tuesday:
The Legislative Audit Commission met on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, and appointed Judy Randall as the Legislative Auditor.
— MN Office of the Legislative Auditor (@MNLegAud) November 9, 2021
At the St. Paul Pioneer Press, veteran capitol news reporter Bill Salisbury had more in Longtime deputy Judy Randall named Minnesota legislative auditor:
Minnesota has a new watchdog in charge of weeding out waste, graft and mismanagement in state government.
Judy Randall was appointed Legislative Auditor on Tuesday. She and her staff of 50-plus accountants and program analysts will hold state agencies accountable for how they spend tax dollars, evaluate the performance of state programs and publicly disclose any misconduct they uncover in state operations.
Randall, 50, succeeds Jim Nobles, who headed the legislative auditor’s office for 38 years before he retired on Oct. 5. Randall has worked in the auditor’s office for more than 20 years, serving as the deputy legislative auditor for the program evaluation division since 2015.
An Edina resident, she holds a bachelor’s degree in math and economics from Northwestern University and master’s degrees in economics and education policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She was unanimously appointed to her new post by the Legislative Audit Commission, a bipartisan panel of 12 lawmakers who oversee the auditor’s office and select topics for the staff to review.
The commission conducted a nationwide search before settling on Randall. Before the vote, Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, said Randall was “far and above the other candidates” who interviewed for the post.
Sen. Ann Rest, a New Hope DFLer and 30-year commission member, said she was “quite frankly, blown away by depth of understanding, perception and ideas for the future” of the office that Randall displayed in her interview with selection committee members.
Randal started her new job immediately after the vote.
Judging from her photo, we're thinking she'll continue the tradition of in-depth audits maintained during Nobles' tenure, often leading to improvement in the agencies scrutinized by the OLA.
Here's the discussion of the appointment by Legislative Audit Commission via YouTube; the video will scroll until the discussion begins with South St. Paul DFL state representative Rick Hansen's nomination of Randall for the job:
Photo: Judy Randall was appointed Legislative Auditor on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (courtesy of Judy Randall).
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