Nicole Galloway

Nicole Marie Galloway (née Rogge; born June 13, 1982) is an American accountant and politician who served as the state auditor of Missouri from 2015 to 2023.

Galloway served as treasurer of Boone County, Missouri from April 2011 until her appointment as state auditor four years later.

As county treasurer, she managed a $100 million investment portfolio and issued all general obligation and revenue bonds for the county.

In 2011, Boone County became the first Missouri county to maintain an online search and claim system for unclaimed property which oversaw the distribution of approximately $20,000 in unclaimed property in 2014.

During her service as County Treasurer, Galloway served on the Missouri Technology Corporation and Missouri County Employees’ Retirement Fund.

As a board member for retirement fund board she was the leader for expanding benefits to members’ same-sex spouses.

Galloway developed a debt issuance policy in 2012 that provided increased transparency.

Galloway was appointed to the office of State Auditor by Governor Jay Nixon on April 14, 2015, following the death of Tom Schweich in February 2015.

Following Galloway's resignation as Boone County Treasurer on April 27, 2015, Kay Murray was appointed as interim County Treasurer.

Galloway said that her goals as State Auditor of Missouri are to hold her office and others to the highest professional standards and being accountable to Missourians.

Upon taking the oath of office in 2015, Galloway said one of her first priorities as State Auditor of Missouri would be cybersecurity by making protection of Missourians' private data part of audit procedures for the State Auditor's Office.

As State Auditor of Missouri, Galloway managed about 115 employees.

The state auditor's staff is made up of CPAs, with about 65 percent of all audit staff having at least one professional license, certification or advanced degree.

Employment as an auditor with the State Auditor's Office qualifies as mandatory experience required for licensure by the Missouri State Board of Accountancy as a certified public accountant.

Additional responsibilities of the State Auditor's Office included serving as the independent, professional watchdog for government.

The State Auditor's Office works to ensure the proper use of public funds and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Missouri government by performing audits of state agencies, boards and commissions, the circuit court system, the counties in Missouri that do not have a county auditor, and other political subdivisions upon petition by the voters.

These audits examine financial accountability, waste, opportunities for fraud, and whether government organizations and programs are achieving their purposes and operating economically and efficiently.

The questionable activity began in September 2016, after the Putnam County Hospital Board hired David Byrns and his company, Hospital Partners Inc., to take over day-to-day management of the hospital.

The auditor's report uncovered $90 million in inappropriate lab billings.

The findings of the audit were covered by national news outlets and resulted in calls for a federal investigation into hospital billing schemes.

Following the audit, dozens of major insurers banded together to file lawsuits against affiliated hospitals in Missouri and other states, demanding hundreds of millions in restitution.

In 2017, Auditor Galloway released an audit that uncovered a billing scheme in which Putnam County Memorial Hospital billed insurance companies for lab services conducted across the country.

She was elected to a full term in the 2018 election.

In 2018, following the electoral defeat of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill to Josh Hawley, Galloway became both the only female state officeholder and the only Democratic statewide elected official in Missouri.

On June 4, 2021, Galloway announced that she would not run for reelection as State Auditor in the 2022 election.

Galloway grew up in Fenton, Missouri and graduated high school from Ursuline Academy in Oakland, Missouri.

She holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

During college, she was a member of the S&T soccer team, member of a service organization, and was a server at Applebee's.

She has a master's degree in business administration from the University of Missouri.

She is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.

Before working in government, Galloway worked at the public accounting firm of Brown Smith Wallace in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

At Brown Smith Wallace, she served as an auditor of national and international Fortune 500 companies and insurance companies.

She has worked at Allstate Insurance as an actuarial analyst and at Shelter Insurance's Columbia headquarters as a corporate auditor.

Galloway cited her experience in the private sector as key to being a "strong, independent watchdog for Missourians" in her role as auditor of Missouri.

She served as secretary/treasurer of the Missouri Technology Corporation, helping invest in entrepreneurs to create jobs for Missourians.

She held the same role for the Missouri County Employees' Retirement Fund to safeguard retirement benefits of 16,000 Missouri residents in 111 counties across the state and spearheaded the initiative to ensure equally protected benefits of county employees in same-sex marriages.

On September 24, 2018, Auditor Galloway released an audit showing $300,000 missing from the Callaway County Collector's Office from January 2016 to March 2018.

The former county collector pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling the funds.

On March 4, 2019, former Callaway County Collector Pamela Oestreich was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison without parole for embezzling more than $300,000 from taxpayers in Callaway County.

She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Missouri in the 2020 election, losing to incumbent Republican Mike Parson.