,Honorable NoahKennedy, Jr. 

### Oplnlon Ho.w-154 County Attorney Nue cei County Corpus Christi, Texas

Dear Sir: Your oplnlon following questions: Be: Mustthe County Treasurer upon demandof 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? Andrelated questions. request of May22, 

### 1957, presents the

“1. Must the County Treasurer, upon demand of the County Auditor, permit the Auditor to removethe 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 madein the Treasurer’s office in order that the records and cancelled bonds an clcoupons not be removed from the Treasurer’s office?

“2. Should the County Auditor demandthat 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 themto the County Treasurer for posting: or should the Treasurer receive such statemen~ts and cancelled checks from the depository post them andthen submit themto the County Audi,or for examination? “e

### "3* Whois 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 Treasuere?It The general duties of the County Auditor are set forth in Articles 

### 1651-1656, inclusive, of Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes.i Honorable NoahKennedy, Jr., page 2 ,(WM-154)

Thegeneral 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 examning I all the books and other rec

### ords of the County Treasurer at least once in each quarter, the statutes specifying with partlcularlty howcertain 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 meansthat the County Auditor maybe 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, 10.5Atl. 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 whois charged with their custody, Without authorLty or permission of the County Treasurer these items maynot 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. Anaudit 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
. Dto 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 referring to the pres=I+ er,t 1712, V.A.C.S. and associated articles) are sufficient to show, as wethink, 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 NoahRehnedjj, Jr.,, page 3 (Wbt-1%)

Bysimilar 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 maynot remove the cancelled bond books, cancelled bonds and coupons from the office of the County Treasurer to his ownoffice over the objections of the County Treasurer. The County Auditor maynot 

### 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, WILLWILSON AttorneyGeneral of Texas

JRL:waxtwb APPROVEDt OPINIONCOMMITTEE: H. Grady Chandler, Chairman J. W.Wheeler Richard Wells Byron Pullerton -*John R, Lennan Assistant

REVIEZ#HDPORTHB ATTORNEY

GENERAL BY: Geo. P. Blackburn