DocketNumber： C-276
Judges： Waggoner Carr
Filed Date： 7/2/1964
Status： Precedential
Modified Date： 2/18/2017
., TIZEATTORNEY GENERAL o,F 7rExAs iion. ~Fred E. West Opinion No. C-276 County Attorney Lubbock County Re: Whether it is the responsibility OS Lubbock, Texas the County Auditor or the County Treasurer to recommend fina~nclal pro- cedures and to suggest internal end inter-office control and related Dcnr Mr. West: questions. vour recent-letter In regard to county depository and financial procedures incorporates therein a letter request di- rected to you, and such letter asks the following questioils, to which this opinion is directed: “1. Whose responsibility is it to recommend county financial procedures and to suggest inter- nal and inter-office control? “2. Are the recommendations of our County Auditor as to inter-office control and procedures consistent with the governing statutes? "3. Does the County Treasurer have s~trtutbry authority to overrule the County Auditor’s *iirec- tives on financial procedures to be followed that are not inconsistent with statutes? The questions are asked with speci~flc reference to Arti- cles 1656 a,nd 1657, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, .=d it is felt thet Article 1651,of Vernon’s Civil Statutes is also applicable. These Articles read as follows: Article 1651, in part: “The Auditor shall have a general. oversight of all the books and records of all the officers of the county, district or state, who may be authorized or required by law to receive or collect any money, funds, fees or other property for the use of, or belonging to, the county; and he shall see to the strict ‘enforcement of the law governing county finances. -1324- . ’ Hon. Fred I;:. West, page 2 (C-276) Article 1656: “lie shall prescribe and prepa,re the forms to be used by all persons in the collection of county revenues, funds, fees and all other moneys and the mode and manner of keeping and stating their ac- counts, and the time, mode and manner of making their reports to the auditor, also the mode and ma.n- ner of making their annual report of office fens collected an’; disbursed, and the amount refunded to the county in excess of,those allowed under the general fee bill law. He shall have power to adopt and enforce such regulations not inconsistent with the constitution and laws, as he may deem essential ~to the speedy and proper collection, ch-,cking and accounting of the revenues and other funds and,fees belong.ing to the county.” Article 1657: “All deposits that are made in the county’treas- ury shall be upon a deposit warrant issued by the county clerk in triplicate; said warrants shall au- thorize the treasurer to receive the amount named, for what purpose, and to which fund the same shell be applied. The treasurer shall retain the original; and the duplicate shall be signed and returned to the county clerk for the county auditor and the triplicate signed and returned to the depositor. Then auditor shall then enter same upon his books, charging the amounts to the county treasurer and crediting the party depositing same. The treasurer shall not, under any circumstances, receive any money In any other manner than that named herein.” The case of American Indemnltv Co. v. Red River Nat. &J,&,132 S.W.2d 473
(Tex.Civ.App. I.9391in using the above quoted Article 1651as a part of its reasoning At page 480, held in regard to the general duties of the County Auditor that II . . . it ‘IS apparent that an ~examination and approval by the county auditor . . . woul.d better pro- tect the interests of the. countv than \:culd such an audit and approval by the commlssioners( court, com- posed of men not required to be qualified in the matter of auditing reports and accounts, and that such was the purpose and intent of the statute In requiring the ap- pointment of a person so qualified ads county auditor. -1325- Ilon.'Fred E. West, pngc 3 (C-276) He is by the statute made an officer of the county, in whom is vested the authority and it is made his duty to examine and if found correct to approve. . . . 11 In interpreting Article 1656, along with other statutes perta~ining to the County Auditor, our Opinion No. O-6260 (1944) held that the County Auditor is required to examine and verify all the books, accounts, reports, vouchers, and other records of the County Superintendent that relate to the county and district school funds, land that details for such examination and manner in which it is worked out is within the discretion of the Auditor. These pro- cedures would, in our opinion, be "internal and inter-office con- trol," as would the procedures u;lon which our Opinion No. 0-44~61 (1942) are based. In that opinion we held that the County Auditor has authority to prescribe and prepare mileage forms for use by a sheriff and his deputies, where reimbursement is ,made for miles traveled on official business. Based upon the above authorities and the,plaln wording of the above statutes, the answer to your QuestionNo. 1 is that it is the responsibility of the County Auditor to recommend county financial procedures,' and to suggest internal and inter-office con- trol. Your Question No. 2 is covered mainly by the above Arti- cles 1656 and 1657. The recommendations of the Lubbock County Audi- tor, attac,hed hereto as Attachments A~and B, provide essentially that all monies received by Lubbock County departments for Lubbock County are to be delivered, upon issuance of a receipt, to the County Clerk (for transfer to the County Treasurer, only) who will then prepare a deposit warrant and transmit the funds with the war- rant to the County Treasurer for deposit in the county depository. It Is the opinion of this office that Article 1656 gives authority to the County Auditor to prescribe such a general proced- ure and to prescribe the forms to be used. However, Article 1657 specificaily sets out the manner In which the deposit warrant shall be Issued, and Paragraph 5 of Attachment B is Inconsistent with such provision. A quadrupllcate deposit warrant may be used, since Article 1657 sets out the minimum form, I.e. triplicate, and since the fourth copy would be only surplusage, but the original and two signed copies should be distributed as provided inthe statute, with the original being retained by the Treasurer, the duplicate and triplicate being signed and returned to the County Clerk (for the Ayditor) and the depositor, respectively. -1326- , hon. Fred E. West, page 4 (C-276) Our answer, therefore, to Question No. 2 is that the recommendations of the County Auditor, as shown by Attachments A & B hereto, are consistent with the governing statutes, except Paragraph 5 of Attachment B, which paragraph is inconsistent therewith. In regard to Question 3, please be advised that the du- ties and authorities of the County Treasurer are set out in Arti- cles 1703 through 1714 of Vernon's Civil Statutes. We can find no statutory authority for the overruling by the County Treasurer of a County Auditor's directives which are not inconsistent with the statutes, and therefore answer your Question 3 in the nega- tive. SUMMARY 1. It is the responsibility of the County Auditor rather than the County Treasurer to recommend financial procedure, and to suggest internal and inter-office con- trol. 2. The recommendations of the .Lubbock County Audi- tor, attached hereto, in regard to~the receiving of and preparation for deposit of county money, are consistent with the governing statutes, with the exception of the provisions relating to the depository warrants. 3. The County Treasurer has no statutory authority to overrule County Auditor directives on financial pro- cedures, which directives are conslstent.with the stat- utes. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Edward P. ,Boldlng EPB:wb Assistant APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman Bill Allen Gordon Cass Malcolm Quick Pat Bailey APPROVEDFOR TRE ATTORNEYGENERAL BY: Stanton Stone -1327- llon. Fred E. West, page 5' (C-276) LUBBOCK, TEXAS May 26, 1964 HEM0 TO: Lubbock Cepartments SIZJECTI Payment of moneys into the County Treasury 1s per Article 1657, Texas Civil St;.I;utes, payment of all monies into the County Treasury will be chenged effective June 1, 1414. After that date all monies paid lntc the County Treasury will ')c Delivered to the County Clerk's OCfic e and a rcccfpt for the pry- ment will be issued to the payor bv .I t?!e County Clerk. Wen there is a report covering payments into thecounty Treasury, the report along with the duplicate copy of the receipt from the County Clerk will be delivered to the Auditor's office for audit, reconciliation, and verification. When monies are paid Into the County Clerk's Office and not COV- ered by a report, a duplicate copy of the receipt w.'.ll b? held by the County Clerk and either picked up by the Con:lty Auditor or delivered to him at the convenience of the County Clerk. This memorandum has been presented to the Commissioners' Court for informational purposes. Thenkyou for yourcooperation in this regard and if there isany question, please advise. ROYAL FUBGESON " County Auditor ATTACMMENT "A" -1328- Hon. Fred E. West, page 6 (c-276) LUBBOCK, TEXAS May 20, 1964 MEMOTO: Floe Swenson, County Clerk SUBJECT: Recommended procedures for receipts and deposits of County funds for the County Clerk's Department. Effective June 1, 1964, the County Clerk 'is to assume the procedure of receiving county treasury funds for Lubbock County so that inter-office controls can be set up as intended under Article 1657. The following procedures nre recommended: 1. The,County Clerk is to receive all monies payable into the County Treasury. 2. The County Clerk will issue receipts on the forms pro- vided. This receipt form will be intriplicate - the origi- nal for the payor, the duplicate for the Auditor, and the triplicate to be left in the bound book as a record in the County Clerk's office. 3. When there is a report accompanying the money, the Clerk will attach the Auditor's copy to the report.which is to be delivered along with the report to the Auditor. When monies are received without a covering report, the Auditor's copy can be torn out by the Clerk and placed In a folder to be picked up by the Auditor or delivered to him at the conven- ience of the Clerk at a later date. 4. The Deposit Warrant can be made out by the Clerk with the help of the Auditor in distributing the proper amounts to the proper funds. The giving of the receipt as suggested in para- graph number 2 will give more time for the Clerk and the Audi- tor in preparing the deposit warrant and'making proper distri- bution to the various funds. sormThe present deposit warrants can be used' in their present . Such will be issued in all 4 copies - the original for the bank, the duplicate for the treasurer, the triplicate for the Auditor's office, and the quadruplicate for the Clerk's records. It is suggested that the Clerk place the deposlt war- rant number on prior receipts or receipts issued. Thus, all receipt forms would show a deposit number. The Auditor will attach to the deposit warrant all prior receipts issued which cover the money so deposited. ATTACHMENT"B", Page 1 -132.9- * Ilon.Fred~E. West, pige 7 (C-276) When these procedures have been accepted and used, it is felt thnt the requirements of Article 1657, Texas Civil Statutes, have been met. It is to be understood that the Audi- tor's office is available and will work with the County Clerk's office in perfecting the procedure necessary in the depositing of Lubbock County funds, and please feel free to call on us. /s/ Royal Furgeson ROYAL FURGESON County Auditor RF:rc ATTACHMENT "B", Page 2 -1330-