About Karen
Controller Karen Sanchez was elected in November, 2015 after a resounding victory in her first bid for public office. She was re-elected in 2019, and is running for her third term this year (2023). She is honored to serve as the County’s financial watchdog. Ms. Sanchez uses her legal skills and MBA to ensure that the County finances are efficiently spent and accurated reported. Controller Sanchez has been an integral part of the team effort in achieving the AAA Bond Rating for Montgomery County, allowing money to be borrowed at the lowest available interest rate. Under Ms. Sanchez's leadership, the Controller's office team has become significantly more diverse and substantially more qualified. Ms. Sanchez also serves as Second Vice President of the PA State Association of County Controllers. Controller Sanchez urges you to contact her office to report any fraud or abuse using the easy and confidential form found at http://montcopa.org/328/Fraud-Abuse-Tip-Line or by calling the office at 610-278-3072.
Ms. Sanchez is also a practicing attorney specializing in complex commercial transactions and has been an award winning pro bono child advocate for 20 years. She practices as a partner at the law firm of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP. Ms. Sanchez has mastered the skill of explaining and summarizing complex financial transactions in plain language.
Ms. Sanchez has previously served as a Senior Hearing Committee Member for The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and was selected as a “2013 Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer which recognizes future leaders of the Commonwealth’s legal community. She was also named a “Pennsylvania Rising Star” in 2014, 2013 and 2007, a recognition given to the top up-and-coming lawyers in the Commonwealth. Perhaps most importantly, Ms. Sanchez has consistently volunteered her time to represent children in pro bono cases to protect their best interests and improve their quality of life, working tirelessly to provide counseling to kids who are going through extraordinarily tough times. In 2020, Ms. Sanchez received the 2020 Distinguished Advocates for Children Award by the Support Center for Child Advocates. In short, she is not afraid to get involved and to try to help solve difficult problems. Each year beginning in 2006 and continuing every year since then, Ms. Sanchez was awarded enrollment in the Pro Bono Roll of Honor by the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania as an attorney whose work has been recognized by the judiciary as exemplary for her pro bono work representing children through the Support Center for Child Advocates.
Ms. Sanchez also proudly serves as a Board Member of Family Promise Montco, a non-profit that seeks to address issues of homelessness and food insecurity in our local communities.
Ms. Sanchez resides in her hometown of Abington Township with her husband, two daughters and son.
Ms. Sanchez also proudly serves as a Board Member of Family Promise Montco, a non-profit that seeks to address issues of homelessness and food insecurity in our local communities.
Ms. Sanchez resides in her hometown of Abington Township with her husband, two daughters and son.
- Selected to The Legal Intelligencer’s “2016 Top Women in Law.”
- Named Pennsylvania “Lawyer on the Fast Track 2013” by the Legal Intelligence
- Selected to “Pennsylvania’s Rising Stars” 2007, 2013, 2014, 2018.
- Awarded enrollment in the Pro Bono Roll of Honor by the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania as an attorney whose work has been recognized by the judiciary as exemplary for her pro bono work representing children with the Support Center for Child Advocates, 2006 to 2018.
- Has served as Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Controller since a resounding victory in 2015, her first bid for public office. She serves as the County’s financial watchdog of the more than 800,000 constituents.
- Served as a Senior Hearing Committee Member for The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
- Consistently awarded for her pro bono work representing children as a Child Advocate with the Support Center for Child Advocates including a 2020 Distinguished Advocate Award
- Frequent lecturer on lender liability issues, specifically on-site presentations for clients. a
- Board Member of Family Promise Montco, Abington, Pa.