Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1975 )

September 17. 1975
The Honorable Jim Sharon Bearden Opinion No. H- 693
Orange County Attorney
Orange County Courthouse Re: Preservation of
Orange, Texas 77630 records by county
treasurer.
Dear Mr. Bearden:
You have asked our opinion on the following questions:
1. How many years must the county treasurer
retain cancelled bonds and coupons before they may
properly be destroyed?
2. Must a commissioners court order be entered
to authorize the destruction of such bonds and coupons;
..~ -. and if destruction may be ,properly ordered, should
-. photo copies be made and retained?
3. How many years should county warrants be
retained and kept of record?
4. How long should outstanding uncashed county
warrants be kept on the treasurer’s outstanding war-
rant list, and should outstanding warrants be voided
at some point of time or should stop payment orders
be entered as to such warrants?
There is a paucity of legislation dealing with the maintenance and
retention of.records by the county treasurer. Article 1941(a), V. T. C.S.,
pertains to the records of county clerks, county recorders and clerks of
county courts and requires that official public records of such officers
be retained in their original form for at least five years after microfilming.
This article does not apply to tbe records kept by the county treasurer, and
the enactment of this arficle by Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., ch. 866, p. 2716,
p. 3008 .
.
The Honorable Jim Sharon Bearden, page 2 (H-693)
provided that’earlier duplication of records statutes were repealed
“to the extent of conflict only. ” A previous duplication and destruc-
tion statute. article 6574b, V.T. C.S., provided for the photographing
and limited destruction of original records of all county “public
records. ” Since the county treasurer is not included within article 1941(a),
article 6574a would control the microfilming of the public records of the
treasurer and the possible destruction of the original records. Attorney
General Opinion H-523 (1975). See Attorney General Opinion M-1240 (1972).
which applies article 6574(a) tothe county tax collector and holds that
“motor vehicle receipt records are public records and must be preserved
for five years” and that the other provisions of the statute must be com-
plied with, including the author.ization of the commissioners court for
the duplication and destruction of the original records.
However, we are of the opinion that cancelled bonds and bond coupons
and cancelled warrants do not come within the purview of article 6574a
which would require that they perpetually be preserved either in original
or photographic form. Both bonds and county warrants are evidences
of indebtedness and their existence, face values and’tenor are recorded
by the treasurer (articles 1626, 1627 and 1709a, V. T. C. S. ). Where a
warrant is issued to pay a claim. it must be charged to the fund upon
which it is drawn and entered in a warrant register (articles 1709a and
1662, V. T. C. S. ); Honeycutt v. State, 199 S. W. 2d 657 (Tex. Crim.App.
1947). Likewise, bonds must be registered with the county treasurer
(article 724, V. T. C. S. ) and he must keep a record of the receipts from
the sale of bonds and the payments of interest and principal (article 7520,
V. T. C. S. ) Moreover, the county depository maintains records on bond
issues and other county moneys (article 778n. 7780 and 2554, V. T. C. S. ),
and the county auditor continually checks the operations of the county
treasurer and makes his own reports on expenditures and receipts
(articles 1653-1656. 1660-1665. 1709a, V. T.C.S. ). Thus, in the case of
both warrants and bonds, there are ample records available to show the
presentment of claims and bonds for payment and the payments of claims
and bond ,obligations, obviating the necessity of keeping cancelled ,bonds
and warrants for all time. Indeed, the legislature has expressly coun-
tenanced the destruction of bonds where authorized but unsold bonds are
~revoked and cancelled pursuant to article 717g, V. T. C. S. And express
authorization to destroy cancelled checks and vouchers in the control of
the auditor is given by article 1651, V. T. C. S.
p. 3009
The Honorable Jim Sharon Rearden. page 3 (H-693)
We therefore are of the opinion that cancelled bonds, bond coupons
and county warrants need,. not be retained by the treasurer indefinitely.
Such documents may be destroyed without photocopying after their
retention for a reasonable time without a commissioners court order.
However, article 1651 bestows upon the auditor “the general over-
sight of all books and records of all the officers of the county” and the
treasurer should cooperate with the auditor by retaining cancelled bonds
and warrants for a period of time which will permit proper auditing pro-
cedures to be accomplished. Additionally, cooperation with the commis-
sioners court is desirable inasmuch as the court has the obligation to
“audit and settle all accounts against the county and direct their payment. I’
Subparagraph 10 of article 2351, V. T. C. S. The approval of the destruc-
tion of records would avoid any possible violation of section 37.1013).
Penal Code, prohibiting the destruction of a “governmental record. ”
Moreover, in the case of bonds and bond coupons, good administrative
practice would suggest the retention of the bonds and cancelled coupons
of a particular issue until all the coupons and bonds of that issue have
been paid and,the entire. series has been retired and cancelled.
- -, -.
In the case of outstanding warrants which have not been presented
for payment, there is no statutorily required period of time before a
treasurer can void these outstanding obligations although, once again,
good administrative procedure would seem to require the setting of time
limits by a joint decision of the treasurer and the auditor even though
the auditor’s agreement is not legislatively required. Attorney General
Opinion WW-154 (1957). If and when outstanding warrants are voided on
the books of the treasurer, a stop payment request should be made to
the county depository to avoid possible payment of these voided obligations.
SUMMARY
3. Subject to sound administrative practice as indicated
herein, cancelled bonds, bond coupons and county warrants
may be destroyed by the county treasurer without the
. necessity of duplicating such instruments. There is no
statutorily required retention time so long as they are
retained long enough to permit the, county auditor to
complete his auditing duties and no order of the commis-
p. 3010
The Honorable Jim Sharon Bcarden, page 4 (H-693)
sionera court is required before their destruction
can be accomplished. However, good administrative
practice ‘suggests that the treasurer consult and
confer with the auditor and the commissioners court
before destroying cancelled instruments and that, in
the case of bonds, destruction of a particular issue
should be postponed until the entire series has
matured, been paid and cancelled.
Outstanding warrants, which have not been
presented for payment, may be voided by the trea-
surer after a reasonable time. A request to the
county depository to stop payment should be made
at the time of voiding the warrants.
Very truly yours,
APPROVED:
DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant
C. ROBERT HEATH. Chairman
Opinion Committee
.
p. 3011