Bipartisan commission sets timeline for hiring state inspector general

A 2026 law created an Office of the Inspector General. Now, it’s time to determine how to bring about its leader.

That task falls to the laps of the bipartisan Legislative Inspector General Advisory Commission, which held its inaugural meeting Wednesday largely to discuss the screening and hiring process.

“Minnesota has not had an office like this before. How we build it and who we choose to lead it will define what accountability looks like in the state for generations,” said Sen. Heather Gustafson (DFL-Vadnais Heights), who was elected commission chair.

She and Rep. Matt Norris (DFL-Blaine) sponsored the law to create the office within the state’s executive branch. “This is the sort of thing that we need here in Minnesota to restore that confidence in the accountability of our taxpayer dollars,” Norris said.

A recommended candidate or candidates — approved by at least five of the eight commission members — must be named by Jan. 1, 2027, Gustafson said, and the governor must appoint someone by Feb. 1, 2027. Tasked with overseeing current agency-based inspectors general and investigating credible allegations of fraud or misuse in state-administered programs, the office must be fully operational by Sept. 1, 2027.

[MORE: Draft position description]

Per its organizational overview, “The commission must assess eligible candidates based on qualifications, including experience in auditing, financial analysis, public administration, law enforcement, or related fields.

“ … Current or former commissioners, agency heads, deputy commissioners or agency heads, governors, or legislators, and people elected to an office other than governor or legislator, are not eligible to serve as inspector general within five years of their service in those roles.”

The proposed recruitment and hiring process calls for the job posting to be finalized by Sept. 1 and posted the following week at the same time an executive recruitment plan is implemented. First-round interviews would take place in the last week of October and second-round interviews in mid-November.

Whomever is appointed to a five-year term will be subject to a three-fifths supermajority confirmation by the Senate.

[MORE: Comparative hiring process for legislative auditor (2021), Council on Latino Affairs executive director (2025)]

Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia) was named the commission vice chair.

“It is time that we put this now in motion, (and) do an excellent job to make sure we are achieving bipartisanship so that people who have seen the money evaporating from their wallets know that state government is actually looking critically and is going to shut down the fraud we have been so plagued by.”