Eligible reports are reviewed by three judges, who complete an evaluation form specifically designed for this purpose. The judge’s evaluation form is comprised of five categories that are given varying weights of importance toward the overall evaluation:

• Reader appeal (25%),
• Understandability (40%),
• Distribution methods (5%),
• And other (e.g., creativity, notable achievement) (10%).
• The remaining 20% of the score is based upon overall quality and usefulness of the report, taking into consideration the four previous categories.

Judges are never selected from the same state as the PAFR being reviewed or from the same firm that performed the independent audit of the annual comprehensive financial report.

Staff tabulates the results of the reviews of the judges. Any PAFR with at least 2 of the 3 judges rating the report as Partially satisfy (3), Good (4) or Excellent (5) in all categories weighted at 20% or higher (i.e., in the reader appeal, understandability, and overall impression categories) is granted the award.