Throughout her first term and continuing into her second, Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Crit Luallen has uncovered millions of dollars in government fraud and questionable expenditures, and has referred a record number of cases to law enforcement officials. At the same time, she continues to focus on ways to improve government management and efficiency.

“One of my goals is that the Auditor's Office not just focus on finding wrongdoing and saying 'gotcha.' I want this office to bring value to the process of improving government efficiency.”

Luallen's experience helps her understand the bigger challenges facing Kentucky and how the state has too few resources and so many critical investment needs. As Auditor, she realizes that Kentucky can’t afford to have a single dollar of taxpayer money, at either the state or local level, to be unnecessarily spent.

Because of this commitment, she has elevated the role of the Auditor's Office by issuing performance audits and special reports that add value to the public debate over significant policy issues and offer specific recommendations to increase efficiencies.

Among the most significant include the first comprehensive review of each county's jail spending, her review of Medicaid reporting, an overview of higher education tuition increases, a study of state parks, and an assessment of Kentucky's Guardianship program.

The Ashland Daily Independent¹ praised Luallen, saying, "Her office's performance audits have been among the most beneficial to the state. A performance audit of jails revealed how the lockups are a drain on local county budgets and recommended an eventual state takeover of jails. Her audit of the impact of double digit increases in tuition showed how the high cost of college was making it impossible for some Kentuckians to attend and had actually resulted in a decline in the number of in-state students at some schools."

Luallen was elected the Commonwealth of Kentucky's forty seventh Auditor of Public Accounts in November of 2003. In 2007 she was re-elected with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Ms. Luallen won statewide office on her first foray into elective politics after a distinguished career in public service. Her service began in 1974 as a campaign staff member to Wendell Ford and culminated in her nearly seven years as Secretary of the Governor's Executive Cabinet, then the highest appointed position in Kentucky state government. As Secretary of the Executive Cabinet, Crit Luallen was the chief operating officer of Kentucky, with responsibility for more than 35,000 full-time employees and a budget of $17 billion.

Luallen also served as State Budget Director, Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, Secretary of the Kentucky Tourism Cabinet, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of the Arts, and Special Assistant to the Governor. She also spent four years in Louisville and served as President of the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership, a regional economic development agency. In 2001 Luallen was awarded the National Excellence in Leadership Award by Women Executives in State Government.

During her years of service to Kentucky, Ms. Luallen was pivotal in many of the Commonwealth's greatest accomplishments. She played a key role in developing and securing passage of the historic Higher Education Reforms of 1997 and the Early Childhood Development initiative. Ms. Luallen chaired EMPOWER Kentucky, a government efficiency initiative that produced savings to Kentucky taxpayers of $600 million. She helped develop the Agricultural Development Board that determines the uses of Kentucky's tobacco settlement funds and she chaired Kentucky’s Homeland Security Team. In response to allegations of wrongdoing in the Transportation Cabinet, Ms. Luallen spearheaded the creation of an Office of Inspector General. Ms. Luallen also played a leadership role in developing the Governor's School for the Arts, the Kentucky Information Highway, the Kentucky History Center, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, and the expansion of the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville.

Luallen is a native of Frankfort, a graduate of Centre College where she serves on the Board of Trustees and is married to Lynn Luallen, retired CEO of the Kentucky Housing Corporation and current president of The Louisville Housing Partnership.