Chap. 79.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 10, subsection (b) of sec-
tion 11, and section 13 of an act entitled an act to reorganize the adminis-
tration of the State government, in order to secure better service, and
through co-ordination and consolidation, to promote economy and ef-
ficiency in the work of the government; to create and establish or con-
tinue certain departments, divisions, offices, officers and other agencies,
and to prescribe their powers and duties; to abolish certain offices, boards,
commissions and other agencies, and to repeal all acts and parts of acts

inconsistent with this act to the extent of such inconsistency, approved
April 18, 1927. [S B 242]

Approved February 29, 1928.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion ten, subsection (b) of section eleven, and section thirteen of an
act entitled an act to reorganize the administration of the State
government, in order to secure better service, and through coordina-
tion and consolidation, to promote economy and efficiency in the
work of the government; to create and establish or continue certain
departments, divisions, offices, officers and other agencies, and to
prescribe their powers and duties; to abolish certain offices, boards,
commissions and other agencies, and to repeal all acts and parts of
acts inconsistent with this act to the extent of such inconsistency,
approved April eighteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 10. Division of accounts and control and division of the
treasury.—(a) The director of the division of accounts and control
shall be known as the comptroller. Before entering upon the dis-
charge of his duties, he shall take an oath that he will faithfully and
honestly execute the duties of his office during his continuance
therein, and he shall give bond in such penalty as may be fixed by
the governor (but such penalty shall not be less than twenty-five
thousand dollars), conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his
duties, the premium on which bond shall be paid out of the State
treasury. The comptroller shall receive such annual compensation
for his services as may be appropriated by law for the purpose.
Except as otherwise provided in this act, all the powers heretofore
conferred and all the duties heretofore imposed by law upon the
auditor of public accounts and the second auditor are hereby trans-
ferred to, vested in, and shall be exercised or performed by, the
comptroller. The office of second auditor is hereby abolished. Such
of the employees in the office of the comptroller as, in the opinion
of the governor, should be bonded, shall be bonded, and the penalties
of such bonds, respectively, shall be fixed by the comptroller, sub-
ject to the approval of the governor. The premiums on such bonds
shall be paid out of the State treasury.

(b) Unified financial accounting and control shall be established
through the department of finance, in the manner herein prescribed.

(c) Every State department, division, officer, board, commis-
sion, institution or other agency owned or controlled by the State,
whether at the seat of government or not, collecting or receiving
public funds, or moneys from any source whatever, belonging to
or for the use of the State, or for the use of any State agency, shall
hereafter pay the same promptly into the treasury of the State,
without any deductions on account of salaries, fees, costs, charges,
expenses, refunds, or claims of any description whatever, and all
balances of funds on March first, nineteen hundred and twenty-
eight, in the possession or to the credit of any State department,
division, officer, board, commission, institution or other agency
owned or controlled by the State, whether at the seat of govern-
ment or not, shall be then immediately paid into the treasury of
the State; provided, however, that any State department, division,
oficer, board, commission, institution or other agency at the seat
of government may deposit such moneys to the credit of the
treasurer of Virginia upon communicating with him and receiving
instructions from him as to what State depository may be used for
the purpose, and in every such case such depositor shall send a
certificate of the deposit certified by the bank receiving said deposit
for every such deposit to the State treasurer; and provided, further,
that any State department, division, officer, board, commission, in-
stitution or other agency not at the seat of government (other than
county and citv treasurers and clerks of courts) heretofore de-
positing such moneys to its or his credit in local banks mav here-
after deposit such moneys to the credit of the treasurer of Virginia
ina local State depository duly designated in pursuance of law as
such, and in every such case such depositor shall send a certificate
of the deposit certified hy the hank receiving said deposit for every
such deposit to the State treasurer; but in no case shall a State
depository receive a larger stm to the credit of the treasurer of
Virginia than the amount covered by surety bond and securities
held by the treasurer of Virginia to protect State funds on deposit
in such depositorv; and provided, further. that moneys paid into the
State treasury which are not now pavable into the general fund of
the treasury shall be placed to the credit of the respective accounts
which are required by law to be kept on the books of the comp-
troller or to the credit of new accounts to be opened on the books of
the comptroller with such agencies so paving such moneys into the
treasury, respectively ; and provided, further, that this act shall not
apply to the endowment funds or gifts to institutions owned or con-
trolled by the State, or to the income from such endowment funds
or gifts, or to private funds belonging to the students or inmates of
State institutions. Appropriations made by the government of the
United States to or for the benefit of any State instituion or agency,
however, shall be paid into the State treasury and used for the pur-
poses for which such appropriations were made. The cash as well
as the notes of student loan funds shall be held by the respective
institutions.

All county and city treasurers and clerks of courts receiving
State moneys shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, or
uftener, if the comptroller directs, report to the comptroller the
total of each class of State revenue or State moneys received or col-
lected for the previous calendar month unless otherwise directed,
and at the same time pay into the State treasury the total amount
so reported thereof received or collected from all sources.

Every State department, division, officer, board, commission, in-
stitution or other agency owned or controlled by the State, whether
at the seat of government or not, including county and city treas-
urers and clerks of courts, collecting or receiving public funds, or
moneys from any source whatever, belonging to or for the use of
the State, or for the use of any State agency, and paying the-same
to the State treasurer, or depositing the same to his credit in pur-
suance of law, shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, or
oftener, if directed by the comptroller, report to the comptroller in
such manner as he may direct, the amount collected or received and
paid into the treasury for the preceding calendar month or other
period designated by the comptroller, such report to show also the
dates of payments to or deposits to the credit of the treasurer.

No State department, division, officer, board, commission, 1n-
stitution or other agency owned or controlled by the State, at the
seat of government, except the State treasurer, shall hereafer deposit
any State funds to its, his or their credit in any bank.

(d) Any public officer, or any firm or corporation, or any other
person having to pay money into the treasury may make such pay-
ment by delivering to the treasurer of Virginia a check, draft or
certificate of deposit, drawn or endorsed, payable to the treasurer of
Virginia, or his order, or may make such payment by delivering
to the treasurer of Virginia the proper amount of lawful money.
Should anv check, draft, or certificate of deposit not be paid on
presentation, the amount thereof, with all costs, shall be charged
to the person on whose account it was received, and his hability
and that of his sureties, except the additional liability for costs,
shall be as if he had never offered any such check, draft, or certi-
ficate of deposit.

(e) The treasurer shall keep a record of every such check, draft
or certificate of deposit, and of all such money received by him,
and upon receipt thereof, forthwith cause the same to be placed
to the credit of the Commonwealth with some State depository.
If any check, draft, or certificate of deposit not be paid on presenta-
tion, the treasurer shall immediately notify the comptroller, and
shall proceed to collect the amount thereof from the person deposit-
ing the same. The treasurer shall daily transmit to the comptroller
a record of all receipts. giving the details thereof.

(f) It shall not be lawful for the treasurer to collect any money
on such check. draft. or certificate of deposit; but the same shall,
in every case, be hy him properly endorsed and deposited, as afore-
said, with some State depository for the credit of the Common-
wealth.

(¢) The bond of the State treasurer shall be in the penalty of
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Such of the employees in
the office of the State treasurer as, in the opinion of the governor,
should be bonded, shall be bonded, and the penalties of such bonds,
respectively, shall be fixed by the State treasurer, subject to the
approval of the governor. The premiums on the bonds mentioned
in this paragraph shall be paid out of the State treasury.

(h) The Commonwealth shall not be liable for any loss result-
ing from lack of diligence on the part of any depository in forward-
ing, or in failing to collect, any such check, draft, or certificate of
deposit, or for the loss of any such check, draft, or certificate of
deposit 1n transmission through the mails or otherwise.

(i) The State treasurer shall be charged with the custody of all
investments and invested funds of the State or in possession of the
State in a fiduciary capacity, and with the keeping of the accounts
of such investments. The State treasurer shall also be charged with
the custody of all bonds and certificates of the State debt, whether
unissued or cancelled, and with the receipt and delivery of State
bonds and certificates for transfer, registration or exchange.

(j) No money shall be paid out of the State treasury except in
pursuance of appropriations made by law, and there shall be estab-
lished in the division of accounts and control by the comptroller a
complete system of general accounting to comprehend the financial
transactions of every State department, division, officer, board, com-
mission, institution or other agency owned or controlled by the
State, whether at the seat of government or not. All transactions
in public funds shall clear through the comptroller’s office. All
State moneys in a State depository shall stand on the books of such
depository to the credit of the treasurer of Virginia. But the
treasurer shall have no authority to draw any of the said money
except by his check, drawn upon a warrant issued by the comp-
troller. If any money to his credit, as aforesaid, shall be knowingly
paid otherwise than upon his check drawn upon such warrant, the
payment shall not be valid against the Commonwealth.

(k) The comptroller shall not issue any disbursement warrant
unless and until he shall have audited the bill, invoice, account, pay-
roll or other evidence of the claim, demand or charge and satisfied
himself as to the regularity, legality and correctness of the expendi-
ture or disbursement, and that the claim, demand or charge has not
been previously paid. If he be so satisfied, he shall approve the
same; otherwise, he shall withhold his approval. In order that such
regularity and legality may appear, the comptroller may, by general
rule or special order, require such certification or such evidence as
the circumstances may demand. Lump-sum transfers of appropria-
tions to State departments, divisions, officers, boards, commissions,
institutions and other agencies owned or controlled by the State,
whether at the seat of government or not, are prohibited; but noth-
ing in this sentence shall be construed as preventing the payment
to or distribution among the political subdivisions of the State of
any appropriations made to them by law. A reasonable petty cash
fund shall be allowed each State department, institution, board,
commission, or other agency, the amount of which petty cash fund
shall be fixed by the comptroller in each case, but these funds shall
be reimbursed only upon vouchers audited by the comptroller. No
appropriation to any department, institution or other agency of the
State government, except the general assembly and the judiciary,
shall become available for expenditure until the agency shall sub-
mit to the director of the division of the budget quarterly estimates
of the amount required for each activity to be carried on, and such
estimates shall have been approved by the governor.

(1) The foregoing is subject to the qualification that, upon war-
rant of the comptroller, the State treasurer shall be authorized to
advance amounts of cash as working funds to the division en-
gineers of the department of highways, to be disbursed by them
solely for the payment of laborers’ wages and for emergency pur-
chases; but the amounts of these funds shall be fixed by the comp-
troller and the disbursements therefrom shall be audited by the
comptroller after payment. The State finance board shall designate
the depositories in which such funds shall be placed.

(m) The comptroller shall prescribe what accounts shall be kept
by each State agency in addition to the system of general account-
ing maintained in the comptroller’s office, and in prescribing what
accounts shall be kept by each State agency, the comptroller shall
take care that there shall be no unnecessary duplication.

(n) All the powers conferred and all the duties imposed by law
upon the State fee commission are hereby transferred to, vested in,
and shall be exercised or performed by the comptroller, and the
State fee commission is hereby abolished. The board, known as
the board of indemnity, and the board, known as the surety bond
board, are hereby severally abolished.

(0) The finance board shall hereafter consist of the governor,
the comptroller and the State treasurer, and the commissioners of
the sinking fund shall hereafter consist of the comptroller and the
State treasurer.

(p) The comptroller and the State treasurer shall each make an
annual report to the governor on or before the first day of August,
and shall make such other reports at such times as the governor
may require.

(q) Sections twenty-one hundred and fifty-five, twenty-one hun-
dred and sixty-three, twenty-one hundred and sixty-four, twenty-
one hundred and sixty-five, as amended by an act approved March
nineteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, twenty-one hundred
and sixty-six, twenty-one hundred and sixty-seven, twenty-one
hundred and_ sixty-eight, twenty-one hundred and_ sixty-nine,
twenty-one hundred and seventy, twenty-one hundred and seventy-
one, twenty-one hundred and eighty-two, twenty-one hundred and
eighty-three, twenty-one hundred and ninety-three, twenty-one hun-
dred and ninety-five, twenty-one hundred and ninety-seven, twenty-
one hundred and ninety-eight, twenty-two hundred, twenty-two
hundred and two, twenty-two hundred and three and twenty-two
hundred and four of the Code of Virginia are hereby repealed.

Section 11 (b). Such director shall transfer surplus supplies or
equipment from one State institution or agency to another, and sell
surplus supplies or equipment which may accumulate in the pos-
session of any State institution or agency and pay the proceeds
derived therefrom into the State treasury ; provided, however, that
no such surplus supplies or equipment shall be transferred or sold
without the consent of the head of the institution or agency having
them in possession, or unless ordered by the governor. No such
supniies or equipment shall be sold or exchanged except as provided

erein.

Section 13. Auditor of public accounts.—An officer, to be known
as the auditor of public accounts, shall be elected by the joint vote
of the two houses of the general assembly, as provided in section
eighty-two of the Constitution, and he shall receive such compensa-
tion as may be appropriated by law for the purpose; but such officer
shall not perform any of the duties nor exercise any of the powers
imposed or conferred upon the officer heretofore known as the
auditor of public accounts, by any statute enacted prior to March
sixteenth, nineteen hundred and twentv-seven, all such duties and
powers being by this act imposed or conferred upon the comptroller,
except as otherwise herein provided. The auditor of public ac-
counts shall perform such duties and exercise such powers as have
heen heretofore imposed or conferred by law upon the State ac-
countant, and the office of State accountant is hereby abolished.
In addition thereto, the auditor of public accounts shall audit all of
the accounts kept in the department of finance and all accounts of
every other State department, officer, board, commission, institution
or other agency in any manner handling State funds; and in the
performance of such duties and the exercise of such powers he
may employ the services of certified public accountants, provided the
cost thereof shall not exceed such sums as may be available out of
the appropriation provided by law for the conduct of his office.

The auditor of public accounts shall be the chief auditor and ac-
countant of the auditing committee of the general assembly. If
the auditor of public accounts should at any time discover any un-
authorized, illegal, irregular, or unsafe handling or expenditure of
State funds, or if at any time it should come to his knowledge that
anv unauthorized, illegal, or unsafe handling or expenditure of State
funds is contemplated but not consummated, in either case he shall
forthwith lay the facts before the governor, the members of the
auditing committee of the general assembly, and the comptroller.

The penalty of the bond of the auditor of public accounts shall
he fixed by the governor, but the same shall not he less than five
thousand dollars. Such of the emplovees in the office of the auditor
of public accounts as. in the opinion of the governor, should be
bonded, shall be bonded, and the penalties of such bonds, respec-
tively, shall be fixed by the auditor of public accounts, subject to the
approval of the governor. The premiums on the bond mentioned
in this paragraph shall be paid out of the State treasury.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force on and after
the first dav of March, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight.