Texas Attorney General Opinion: WW-154 Page: 2 of 3
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Honorable Noah Kennedy, Jr., page 2 (WW-115)
The general duties of the County Treasurer are set
forth in Articles 1709-1714, inclusive, of Vernon's Annotated
Civil Statutes.
The County Auditor by the statutes referred to above,
has the duty of closely examining all the books and other rec-
ords of the County Treasurer at least once in each quarter, the
statutes specifying with particularity how certain phases of
the examination shall be conducted; and the County Treasurer,
by Article 1653, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, is charged
with the duty of giving the County Auditor "continual access"
SY tto the records kept by the County Treasurer. "Continual access"
means that the County Auditor may be present in the office of
the County Treasurer at all times when that office is open.
The County Auditor makes the final check on the re-
ceipt and disbursement of County funds. His examination should
be an unfettered one. Dictum in Apeal of Winteri, 262 Pa. 322,
105 Atl. 293 (1918) states:
"It is therefore the declared policy of the
law that, where a question arises as to the ac-
counts of a public officer, it is to the interest
of the public that no unnecessary obstacle should
be placed in the way of making a proper investiga-.
tion of these accounts."
There is no statutory provision authorizing the County
Auditor to remove the cancelled bond books, cancelled bonds and
coupons from the Treasurer's office to the office of the County
Auditor over the objection of the County Treasurer who is charged
with their custody. Without authority or permission of the County
Treasurer these items may not be removed.
Bank statements and cancelled checks are a record of
the transactions between depositor and depository. The deposi-
tor, here the County Treasurer, is the only one entitled to re-
ceive this record. An audit is a systematic examination of a set
of records. The Auditor has not the right to receive the bank
statements and cancelled checks direct from the depository.
Article 1712, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, states
that the County Treasurer ". . . shall deliver the . . . securi-
ties0 . . of the county in his hands . . to his successor in
office. . . ' K.ener v. o. t of Galvaston, 73 Tex. 216, 11
S.W. 188 (1889) holds that "These articles (referring to the pres-
ent 1712, V.A.C.S. and associated articles) are sufficient to show,
as we think, that it was contemplated that the County Treasurer
Jbould be the custodian of the securities belonging to the school
fLund of the county."
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: WW-154, text, June 10, 1957; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth266765/m1/2/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.