,Honorable Noah Kennedy, Jr. Oplnlon Ho. w-154 

County Attorney 

Nue ce i County 

Corpus Christi, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Your oplnlon 

following questions: 

Be: Must the County Treasurer 

upon demand of the County 

Auditor permit the Auditor 

to remove the cancelled 

bona books, cancelled bonds 

and coupons used dally by 

the Treasurer from the 

Treasurer’s office to the 

office of the County Auditor? And related questions. 

request of May 22, 1957, presents the 

“1. Must the County Treasurer, upon demand 

of the County Auditor, permit the Auditor to remove the cancelled bona books, cancelled bonds 

and coupons used daily by the Treasurer from the 

Treasurer’s office to the office of the County 

;iudi.tor, or can the Treasurer insist that the 

check be made in the Treasurer’s office in order 

that the records and cancelled bonds an cl coupons 

not be removed from the Treasurer’s office? 

“2. Should the County Auditor demand that 

the bank statements and cancelled checks of the 

County’s operating funds from the County depository be given to him first, and the Auditor examine them and deliver them to the County Treasurer 

for posting: or should the Treasurer receive such 

statemen~t s and cancelled checks from the depository post them and then submit them to the County 

Audi, “e or for examination? 

"3* Who is the custodian of the County’s 

sowri.ties that are kept in a lock box at the 

Cwc,ty depository, the Auditor or the County Treasuer e? It 

The general duties of the County Auditor are set forth 

in Articles 1651-1656, inclusive, of Vernon’s Annotated Civil 

Statutes. 
i 

Honorable Noah Kennedy, Jr., page 2 ,(WM-154) 

The general duties of the County Treasurer are set 

forth in Articles 1709-1714, Inclusive, of Vernon’s Aunotated 

Civil Statutes 0 

The County .Auaitor by the statutes referred to above, 

has the duty of closely exam I ning all the books and other records of the County Treasurer at least once in each quarter, the 

statutes specifying with partlcularlty 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 Audltor “continual accesse 

to the records kept by the County Treasurer. %ontlnual accessI 

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 receipt and disbursement of County funds. His examination should 

be an-unfettered one* Dictum in Auneal of liinteu, 262 Pa. 322, 

10.5 Atl. 293 (1918) states: 

“1-t is therefore the declared policy of the 

law that, where a question arises as to the accounts 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 lnvestlgation 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 authorLty 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 deposltar, here the County Treasurer, Is the only one entitled to receive 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 1752, Vernon’s’ Annotated Civil Statutes, states 

that the County Treasurer I’. O . shall deliver the - D . seeurities. o o of the county In his hands a . D to his successor in 

office. 0 ., *I’ mer v. &m&y of Gal e to 73 Tex. 216, 11 

t&W. 188 (1889) holds that “These articles =I+ referring to the preser,t 1712, V.A.C.S. and associated articles) are sufficient to show, 

as we think, that It was contemplated that the County Treasurer 

AouLd be the custodian of the securities belonging to the school 

fund of the county.11 
*. : 

Honorable Noah Rehnedjj, Jr.,, page 3 (Wbt-1%) 

By similar reasoning the County Treasurer is the 

custodian of all securities belonging to the county, since 

the custodian would be the proper person to deliver the 

county's securities to the Treasurer's successor. 

SUMMARY 

The County Auditor may not remove the cancelled bond books, cancelled bonds and coupons 

from the office of the County Treasurer to his 

own office over the objections of the County 

Treasurer. The County Auditor may not demand 

the bank statement and cancelled checks of the 

couuty(s operatlug fund direct from the county 

depository. The County Treasurer is the custodim of the countyrs securities, kept at the 

county depository. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

AttorneyGeneral of Texas 

JRL:waxtwb 

APPROVEDt 

OPINION COMMITTEE: 

H. Grady Chandler, Chairman 

J. W. Wheeler 

Richard Wells 

Byron Pullerton 

-*John R, Lennan 

Assistant 

REVIEZ#HDPORTHB ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: 

Geo. P. Blackburn