Han, R. B. McElrath Opinion No. O-2734 

County Auditor Re: County Auditorts duties 

Gainesville , Texas respecting school ledger. 

Dear Sir: 

In your letter of September 10, 1940 you request 

our opinion in response to the follcwing quest l ons: 

“(1) Does the County Auditor have any authority or 

su ervision over the (a) School Funds of Cooke County or 

(by Schools of said County? 

“(2) Is the County Auditor of Cooke County required 

to keep the school ledger referred to in Art. 16521 

"(3) If answer to No. 1 is Ino* and answer to No. 2 

is ‘yes’, then please advise by what authority and from 

what source is Auditor to get the necessary information 

to keep the record? 

"(4) Is the County School Superintendent of Cooke 

County required to keep the Ledger mentioned in Art. 1652, 

or its equivalent? 

“(5) Is the school depository bank of Cooke County 

required to keep the ledger mentioned in Art. 1.652, or 

its equivalent? 

"(6) If such school ledger is required to be kept 

by either the Auditor or Superintendent or Depository bank, 

from what funds shall the cost thereof be taken; that is, 

county or School Funds; and if school funds, 

"(7) Is the cost of said Ledger required to be paid 

out of expense money for the office of the County Superintendent as provided for in Art. 2700, Id.” 

We enclose herewith a copy of our opinion No. 0-1063 

which we believe will sufficiently answer your first question. 

lows: 

Article 1652, Revised Civil Statutes, reads as fol- 
Hon. R. E. NcRlrath, page 2 

"The auditor shall install in his office a school 

ledger showing an accurate account of all funds received 

and disbursed by the common school districts of his 

county; a bond register showing all the school bonds issued by the common school districts of his county, their 

rate of interest, date issued and maturity date; and he 

shall also keep an interest and sinking fund account of 

such school bonds." 

The above statute worded a little differently, originally appeared as Article ?467a, in H.B. 526, Ch. 134, p* 337, 

Acts 35th Legislature, 1917, which we copy: 

"It shall be the duty of the auditor to install in 

his office, a school ledger and keep in this ledger an 

accurate account of all funds received and all funds 

disbursed by the common school districts of his county. 

He shall also install in his office, a bona register 

showing all the school bonds issued by the common schools 

of his county, the rate of interest they bear, the date 

they were issued, the date they are to be paid, and he 

shall also keep au interest and sinking fund account of 

school bonds of each common school district of his countyo" 

From the original act is is quite apparent that the 

Legislature intended, not only that the ledger should be fnstalled in the auditor's office, but that he should keep in 

the ledger an accurate account of receipts and disbursements 

by the common school districts. We do not believe the meaning 

of the act has been changed by the slightly different wording 

of the statute as it now stands, evidently the work of the codifiers. Hence the answer to your second question is an affirmative one. 

Article 1653, Revised Civil Statutes, reads: 

"He shall have continual access to and shall examine 

all the books, accounts, reports, vouchers and other 

records of any officer, the orders of the commissioners 

court, relating to finances of the county, and all vouchers 

given by the trustee of all common school districts of the 

county and shall inquire into the correctness of same.' 

This article is the 1925 codification of Article 1468, 

Revised Civil Statutes of 1911; and the amendment ,there,to by the 

35th Legislature in the above H.B. 526. Art. 1468, R.C.S. of 

1911, provided: 

"He shall have continual access to, and shall examine, 

all the books, accounts, reports, vouchers and other records 
Hon. R. E. McElrath, page 3 

of any of the officers, and also the orders of the commissioners’ court relating to the finances of the county.” 

The amended Article 1468 appearing in H.B. 526 read 

as follows: 

“,Access to and right to examine accounts 

c 

orders of 

commissioners’ courts, all vouchers given by rustees of 

common school districts. He shall’have continual access 

to and shall examine all the books, accounts reports, 

vouchers and other records of any of the offjcers the 

orders of the commissioners’ court, relating to f 1 nances 

of the county and also to examine all vouchers given by 

the trustee of all common school districts of the county 

and to inquire into the correctness of same .‘I 

The 1911 statute was in the exact wording of the original act. Sec. 6 of s.B. 258, Ch. 161, p. 381, General ma 

Special Laws, 29th Legislature, 1905. It is apparent that in 

the original enactment 

t 

and as appearing in the 1911 statutes, 

the term “relating to he finances of the county” referred to 

“the orders of the commissioners’ court.” In dropping the 

first sentence from Article 1468, as the same appeared in H.B. 

526, the 1925 codifiers evidently did not intend, and in adopting the codification the Legislature did not intend to change 

the meaning thereof in such a way as to deny to the auditor access to books, accounts and other records kept by any county 

officer pertaining to receipts and disbursements of common 

school districts. It is our opinion that the term “relating 

to finances of the county” is still merely a descriptive term 

applicable to “the orders of the commissioners court” and does 

not limit the auditor in his access to books and accounts to 

those pertaining to county finan sc and forbid his access to 

books and accounts having to do zyth receipts and disbursements 

of common school districts. This is particularly apparent in 

view of the duties cast by Article 1652 upon the auditor. The 

answer to your third question is that the auditor has access 

to and authority to examine all the books, accounts, reports, 

vouchers and other records of all county officers, and he may 

examine all vouchers given by trustees of common school districts. Details for such examination may doubtless be worked 

out between the auditor and such officers. 

Since the ledger nmntioned in Art. 1652 must be kept 

by the auditor it follows that it is not to be kept by the superintendent or depository, answering your fourth and fifth 

questions. They will, of course, keep proper records of any 

f1nanc1e.l transactions passing through them. 
Hon. R. E. McElrath, page 4 

Article 1650, Revised Civil Statutes, requires the 

auditor to t~provide himself with all necessary ledgers, books, 

records, blanks and stationery at the county's expense." We 

think the term "county's expense" precludes the purchase of 

any such books at the expense of the school funds. For such 

school funds are actually state funds. Houston Nat'l. Axchange 

Bank vs. School Dist., 185 S.W. 589; Webb County VS. School 

Trustees, 95 Tex. 131, 65 S.V. 878. Answering your sixth question, the school ledger should be purchased from county funds. 

This also requires a negative answer to your seventh question. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By /s/ Glenn R. Lewis 

Glenn R. Lewis, Assistant 

APPROVED SEP 23, 1940 

/s/ Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

APPROVED: ;3NI;;ggTTEE 

BY: , 

GRL:AMM:wb