Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1945 )

HE OBEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Honorable W.P. Herms, Jr. County Auditor Wailer County Hempstead, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. o-6459 Re: Construction of Article 1636--- Duty of Commissioners to count cash in County Depository and related questions. We have your request for an opinion on the above matter, said request being as follows: "Each month the County Treasurer makes a report to the Commissioners' Court, filing same with me as County Auditor. With the Treasurer's report of Receipts, Disbursements, and balances, is included the~bank statement, issued.bg Citi- zens~state Bank, County Depository. I, as Audi- tor, reconcile said bank statement with the Treasurer's Report, and then In turn reconcile the Treasurer's report with my records. I then attach to the Treasurer's report a detailed ex- planation and analysis of these reconciliations, showing my balances, reconciled with Treasurer's balance, and in turn reconciled with the Bank Statement of County Depository. County Treasur- er submits her report to the Commissioners Court, through me, under affidavit,,that same Is correct, and I, in turn certify to the Court that same is correct. "However, at the regular meeting in February, County Judge refused to approve said reports be- cause Commissioner's Court had not complied with Article 1636 R.C.S. which follows: " 'Arte 1636 s TO INSPECT TREASURER'S ACCOUNTS. --When the Commissioners' court has compared and examined the quarterly report of the treasurer, and found the same correct, it shall cause an order to be entered upon the minutes of the court, stating the approval thereof, and reciting sepa- Honorable W, P. Herms, Jr,, page 2 o-6459 ratelg the amount received and paid out _- of each fund by the treasurer since the prececUngtrea- surer's quarterlg.report, and the balance of such fund, If any, remalnlng ln the treasurer's hands and the courtshall cause the proper credit to be made in the accounts of the treasurer, In accordance with said order. Said court shall actually inspect and count all the-actual cash and assets in the hands of the treasurer belong- ing to the county at the time of the examination of his said report. Prior to the adjournment of each regular term of thencourt, the county judge and each commlssloner shall make a'ffidavltthat the requirements of this article have been in all things fully complied with bg'them at safd term of said court and that the cash and other assets mentioned in said county treasurer's quarterly report made, by said treasurer to said court, and held by him for the county, have been fully inspected and counted by them giving the amount of said money and other assets in his hands. Such affidavits shall be filed with the county clerk and recorded In the minutes of said court the term at which the same were filed; and the same shall be published in some newspaper published in the county, if there be a newspaper published in the county, for one time.' "Since neither County Judge nor County Auditor is an attorney, we need an interpretation regard- ing this statute. "From the practical standpoint, the amount of cash on hand in The Citiiens State Bank, County De- pository, is far less than the $100,000 as shown on Depository statement, since this amount far ex- ceeds the cash reserve requirements for a bank of this size. "Therefore, my questions are the following: "1 . Is Commissioners Court required to actu- ally count cash in County depository; before ap- proving Treasurer's or Auditor's reports? "2 * Is depository statement-- i.e, bank state- ment-- issued by such depository bank sufficient. evidence to justify Commlsslonerh Court In approv- ing said reports on the basis of such statement, or can said statement be used in lieu of actually count@ cash? Honorable W.P. Herms, Jr., page 3 o-6459 “3 . My third question arises from the refusal of Commissioner's Court to either approve or re- ject County Treasurer's or County Auditor's re- port. "This refusal is equivalent to an lmpllcatlon that 'OUP house is not In order'. Just what steps do I, as Auditor, have the authority to take In demanding some actlon on this matter by Commisslon- ers Court? "If possible, I shall greatly appreciate your opinion on these matters before our ne~xtCommis- sioners Court meeting on March 12, 1945. Article 1636 of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes; to which you refer, was passed in 1897. Under the County Deposi- tory Law, Title 47, Chapter 2, Articles 2544--2558, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, which was passed in 1905 and which has been amended at various ,timessince it was orlglnallg passed, It is made the duty of the County Treasurer, immedlate- lg upon the selection of a County Depository, to transfer to said Depository all of the funds belonging to the county, and the bond of such County Depository shall stand as security for all such funds. Since the passage of said'County Depository Law, the provisions of A~tiela 1636 requiring the Commissioners' Court to actually inspes% and count all of the actual cash and assets in the hands of the Co,untyTreasurer belongingto the ,county'fsno longer in effect9 therefore,syour first question is answered in the negative, ArSicie 2554 of Vernon's Annotated Cfvil Statutes re- quires the County Depository to make to the Commissfoners' Court monthly statements at each regular term of safd court showfng the daily balances to the credit of each of the funds on deposft, ‘Accordingiy; ft fs our opfnfon, in answer to your second question, that the Commfssionerss Court fs author- ized to consfder the bank's sba%emen%s Issued by the Deposi- tory Bank as evidence upon which to base Its action in approv- ing the County Treasurer's and County Auditor's reports as to the cash on hand, but, whether OP not such statements would be sufficient evidence in themselves to justify the approval of such reports in all respects, we are no% able to say as such statements might not reflect all the information necessary for the court to pass on all ma%ers covered by said reports. We understand from your request that the Commissioners' Cour% refused to approve the County TPeasur&s and County Honorable W. P. Herms, Jr., page 4 O-6459 Auditor's reports because they had not actually inspected and counted all of the actual cash and assets In the hands of the County Treasurer belonging to the county. Therefore, we do not answer your third questlon, since the Commissioners' Court will likely now be wil~llngto pass upon said reports. ~Trusting that this satisfactorily answers your inquiry, we remain Very truly yours ATTORNRY GRWRRAL OF TFXAS By s/Jas. W. Bassett Jas. Wi Bassett Asslstant JWS:mp:wc APPROVED MAR 20, 1945 s/Grover Sellers ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Approved Opinion Committee By s/MiR Chairman