RI Now Taking Applications for Inspector General

Rhode Island began accepting applications Monday for the state's first inspector general, a position created in the fiscal 2027 budget to investigate fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in state agencies and in municipal programs that spend state money.

Applications close Friday, Aug. 21, at 4 p.m., according to a job posting announced by the Inspector General Independent Advisory Commission through the Department of Treasury. The five-member commission then has until Sept. 28 to interview candidates and send three finalists to Governor Dan McKee.

For residents, the practical change is not immediate. Once someone is in the chair, the office is designed to take complaints — including from whistleblowers — and open its own investigations into state departments, quasi-public agencies such as the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, and cities and towns that use state funds. The budget funds the office at $2 million with a staff of 12.

The commission set the advertised salary at $175,000 to $225,000 at its July 29 meeting, higher than the $175,000 ceiling initially floated by Secretary of State Gregg Amore's office. Attorney General Peter Neronha, a commission member, argued the job's responsibilities and the work of building an office from scratch justified more. Will Fletcher, president of the Association of Inspectors General and also a commission member, called the higher range competitive with inspector general posts in other states.

Neronha also volunteered a disclaimer at that meeting. "I can guarantee and promise the people of the state of Rhode Island that I will never, ever apply for this job," he said.

Who can apply, and who screens them

The statute requires at least 10 years of professional experience in auditing, investigations, law enforcement or a related field, plus professional certification from the Association of Inspectors General or an equivalent credential. That credential requirement may narrow the field. "The number of people in Rhode Island who already have one of those certificates I suspect are rather low," Neronha said. Applicants from outside Rhode Island are not barred.

Screening will follow a blind ranking process modeled on Delaware, which swore in its first inspector general in May. Department of State staff will remove unqualified applicants and forward anonymous applications to commission members, who score them. Staff compile the scores, and members use them to pick a pool to interview. Names become public at the interview stage.

Along with Neronha, Amore and Fletcher, the commission includes General Treasurer James Diossa and Jason Gramitt, executive director of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. The panel held its first meeting at the State House on July 21. Gramitt has said the schedule is tight: "This is faster than I would have wanted."

How we got here — and what the office won't cover

House Speaker Christopher Blazejewski, a Providence Democrat, first filed an inspector general bill in 2015 and made the idea an early priority after becoming speaker in May, pointing to the Washington Bridge closure, the spring collapse of a Route 10 on-ramp and the troubled rollout of the state's new payroll and finance system. The office was funded in the $15.2 billion fiscal 2027 budget, which the House passed 65-10 on June 5 and the Senate passed 32-6 on June 9.

The new office sits in the executive branch, and the enabling language excludes the General Assembly and the judiciary, which supporters attribute to separation-of-powers constraints. McKee objected to that in a May 21 letter on the legislation, writing that excluding the branch that controls the power of the purse "would leave a significant gap in the inspector general's oversight authority and would not serve the best interests of Rhode Island taxpayers." He pointed to Massachusetts and Delaware as states that reach legislative financial operations. No amendment changing the scope has passed.

The ACLU of Rhode Island, in comments on the bill, said the legislation could be strengthened to promote greater public access to records the office will hold.

Voter appetite for the office has been broad. A June 2024 Pell Center survey at Salve Regina University found 73% of likely Rhode Island voters supported creating the office, with 46% strongly supportive and 8% opposed; support ran across party lines, at 82% among Republicans, 72% among independents and 67% among Democrats.

After the commission forwards three names, McKee has 90 days to nominate one, and the Senate must confirm. If each step lands on schedule, the state could have an inspector general seated by the end of the year.

The application and the full job description are posted on the Department of Treasury website. Submissions are due by 4 p.m. on Aug. 21.