When national groups hear “the Alabama Story,” they are typically hearing about Alabama and Auburn football or, lately, basketball.
That wasn’t the topic when Alabama State Auditor Andrew Sorrell keynoted the national "State Financial Officers Foundation" (SFOF) in Orlando on Wednesday. Instead of touchdowns or three-point shots, Sorrell told the fiscal leaders of the nation about progress being made in Alabama on governmental accountability.
Sorrell’s presentation included:
Last fiscal year, Alabama lost just 1/10th of 1% of state property on our property rolls, a tiny fraction of the property we are entrusted with auditing.
We finished implementing the state-of-the-art RFID tagging system.
At my urging and with the help of the Governor and Agriculture Commissioner, we are now appointing the most qualified person to serve as Chair of the county board of registrars rather than it simply being the Governor's appointee automatically being the chair. We all agreed that it made sense to put the most qualified person into the position of chairman--regardless of who the appointing authority was.
Publicly supported the pay raise bill for the Registrars, which was much needed and long overdue.
Began efforts to pass a political de-banking prohibition bill in Alabama after I was personally debanked 3 different times at my personal business, a gun store.
A leader to get nursing mothers exempted from jury duty, the Kandace Brown story from January, 2025).
Personally recruited four new State Auditors to join the SFOF organization, increasing auditor memberships from 6 to 10. New recruits are:
Shad White (Mississippi Auditor)Kristi Racines (Wyoming Auditor)
James "Jim" Brown (Montana Auditor)
Dave Boliek (North Carolina Auditor)
Sorrell serves as "Auditor-at-Large" for the nationwide group of state financial officers dedicated to free-market values across the United States.
The SFOF is a national non-profit public policy organization with 41 state financial officers from 32 states. It promotes fiscal responsibility and free market principles and attempts to advocate for those policies at the national and state levels. The organization heralds itself as “the premier free-market organization bringing financial officers together with the nation’s top private sector companies and organizations.”
Sorrell was elected lead state auditor last year during the SFOF’s officer elections.
"I'm honored to serve the State Financial Officers Foundation in this leadership position,” Sorrell told 1819 News then. “Upon my inauguration, I immediately joined SFOF because I believe this organization represents the values of the Alabamians who elected me. Whether fighting against ‘woke capitalism’ or ESG or against the Biden administration's climate and financial proposals, this organization is the first line of defense for citizens in the fight for commonsense government. I proudly serve alongside 36 other state Treasurers, CFOs, Revenue Commissioners, and State Auditors to promote conservative principles and fiduciary duty at the state level. My goal in this leadership role is to increase the membership of other State Auditors in this organization from 7 to a minimum of 10."
That goal has been accomplished already.
The SFOF has addressed hot-button social issues, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, state spending, religious de-banking and others.
In April 2024, the SFOF petitioned the Bank of America CEO for allegedly de-banking religious institutions.
The group also petitioned President Joe Biden in May 2024 to bolster support for Israel. It also passed a resolution vowing not to invest in entities that convey antisemitic sentiments or that contribute to non-profit organizations that are openly antisemitic.
Sorrell was elected Alabama’s State Auditor in 2022. He is not running for re-election in the 2026 elections and has announced his candidacy for the open seat of Secretary of State. He lives in Muscle Shoals, where he has started and run collegiate bookstores and a gun shop.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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