5. a. The Office of the State Comptroller shall be responsible for conducting, in accordance with section 8 of this act, routine, periodic and random audits of the Executive branch of State government, including all entities exercising executive branch authority, public institutions of higher education, independent State authorities, units of local government and boards of education and for conducting assessments of the performance and management of programs of the Executive branch of State government, including all entities exercising executive branch authority, public institutions of higher education, independent State authorities, units of local government and boards of education and the extent to which they are achieving their goals and objectives. The Office of the State Comptroller shall also serve as the office in which the Office of the State Inspector General, which shall be responsible for all the duties assigned pursuant to P.L.2005, c.119 (C. 52:15B-1 et seq.), is allocated within the Department of the Treasury.

b. (1) The State Comptroller shall establish the internal organizational structure of the office and the bureaus therein in a manner appropriate to carrying out the duties and functions, and fulfilling the responsibilities, of the office. The State Comptroller shall have the power to appoint, employ, promote, and remove such assistants, employees, and personnel as the State Comptroller deems necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the office. All such assistants, employees and personnel shall be deemed confidential employees for purposes of the “New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act,” P.L.1941, c.100 (C. 34:13A-1 et seq.) and shall serve in the unclassified service of the Civil Service.

(2) The Office of the State Inspector General shall be allocated within the Office of the State Comptroller, and the individual first appointed State Inspector General under P.L.2005, c.119, shall continue as State Inspector General for the first full term to which that individual was appointed pursuant to P.L.2005, c.119, and shall be eligible to serve in that position thereafter.

c. Within the limits of funds appropriated for such purposes, the State Comptroller may obtain the services of certified public accountants, qualified management consultants, and other professionals necessary to independently perform the duties and functions of the office.

L.2007, c.52, s.5.