AN ACT
Relating to county auditors; amending RCW 36.22.010, 36.22.020, 36.22.060,
36.27.020, 36.32.210, 36.32.215, 36.40.040, 36.80.040, and 42.24.150; and
repealing RCW 36.32.213.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
36.22.010 and 1984 c 128 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
The
county auditor:
(1)
Shall be recorder of deeds and other instruments in writing which by law are to
be filed and recorded in and for the county for which he or she is
elected;
(2) ((Shall
examine and settle the accounts of all persons indebted to the county or who
hold money payable into the county treasury, certify the amount to the treasurer,
and give to the person paying, a discharge upon presentation and filing of the
treasurer's receipt therefor, charging the treasurer with the amount;
(3))) Shall
keep an account current with the county treasurer, charge ((him with))
all money received as shown by ((his)) receipts issued and credit ((him
with)) all disbursements paid out according to the record of settlement of
the treasurer with the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative
authority;
(((4)))
(3) Shall make out and transmit to the state auditor a complete
statement of the state fund account with the county for the past fiscal year
certified by his or her certificate and seal, immediately after the
completion of the annual settlement of the county treasurer with the ((board
of county commissioners)) legislative authority.
((This
statement shall show:
The
total amount of tax levy for the current year as returned on the original
assessment roll;
The
amount of the supplemental taxes levied by the treasurer;
The
amount collected from delinquent tax rolls of previous years, since the last
report;
The
amount of errors, double assessments, and rebates allowed on settlement of the
treasurer with the board of county commissioners;
The
amount paid to the state treasurer since the last annual settlement and all
such other credits as the county may be entitled to receive in abatement of
state taxes;
The
balance of the delinquent tax account for the current year.)) The
statement must be available to the public;
(((5)))
(4) Shall make available a complete exhibit of the prior-year
finances of the county ((immediately after the July settlement between the
county treasurer and the county commissioners. He shall cause the exhibit to
be published in some newspaper printed within the county; if there is none, he
shall post the exhibit in a conspicuous place in his office.
The
exhibit shall show:
The
amount of taxes assessed in the county for the preceding year for state,
county, road, bridge, school, and other purposes;
The
amount of taxes collected on such assessment;
The
amount of money received from other sources;
The
amount received into the treasury;
The
amount still due and not collected;
The
number of warrants issued, the several purposes for which they were issued, the
amount for each purpose, and the total amount;
The
total amount of warrants redeemed;
The
amount of outstanding warrants;
The
present condition of the treasury;
Remarks)) including,
but not limited to, a statement of financial condition and financial operation
in accordance with standards developed by the state auditor. This exhibit
shall be made available after the financial records are closed for the prior
year.
(((6)))
(5) Shall make out a register of all warrants legally authorized and
directed to be issued by ((any superior court cost bill, not earlier than
ten days after receipt thereof, or by the board of county commissioners)) the
legislative body at any regular((, adjourned,)) or special meeting
((thereof, not earlier than ten days after adjournment. He shall also make
out a certified copy of the register of warrants under his hand and seal and
deliver it forthwith to the county treasurer who shall record it in a book kept
for that purpose)). The auditor shall make the data available to the
county treasurer. The auditor shall ((file and carefully preserve))
retain the original ((in his office)) of the register of
warrants for future reference. ((The register of warrants shall be part
of the records of the county.
(7)
Shall examine the books of the treasurer between the first and tenth of each
month and see that they have been correctly kept.
(8))) (6)
As clerk of the board of county commissioners, shall:
Record
all of the proceedings of the ((board)) legislative authority;
Make
full entries of all of their resolutions and decisions on all questions
concerning the raising of money for and the allowance of accounts against the
county;
Record
the vote of each member on any question upon which there is a division or at
the request of any member present;
Sign
all orders made and warrants issued by order of the ((board)) legislative
authority for the payment of money;
Record
the reports of the county treasurer of the receipts and disbursements of the
county;
Preserve
and file all accounts acted upon by the ((board)) legislative
authority;
Preserve
and file all petitions and applications for franchises and record the action of
the ((board)) legislative authority thereon;
Record
all orders levying taxes;
Perform
all other duties required by any rule or order of the ((board)) legislative
authority.
Sec.
2. RCW
36.22.020 and 1963 c 4 s 36.22.020 are each amended to read as follows:
It
shall be the duty of the county auditor of each county, within fifteen days
after the adjournment of each regular ((term)) session, to
publish a summary of the proceedings of the ((board of county commissioners))
legislative authority at such term, in any newspaper published in the
county or having a general circulation therein, or the auditor may post copies
of such proceedings in three of the most public places in the county. The seal
of the county commissioners for each county, used by the county auditor as
clerk to attest the proceedings of the ((board of county commissioners))
legislative authority, shall be and remain in the custody of the county
auditor ((as clerk of the board)), and ((said)) the
auditor is hereby authorized to use such seal in attestation of all ((his))
official acts, whether as clerk of ((said board)) the legislative
authority, as auditor or recorder of deeds; and all certificates,
exemplifications of records, or other acts ((by him)) performed as
county auditor, certified under the seal of ((said)) the county
commissioners, ((heretofore made or hereafter to be made)) pursuant to
this section, in this state, shall be as valid and legally binding as though
attested by a seal of office of the ((said)) county auditor.
Sec.
3. RCW
36.22.060 and 1963 c 4 s 36.22.060 are each amended to read as follows:
((He
shall carefully keep proper warrant books, and)) The auditor shall
maintain a record of when a warrant is issued ((the stub shall be
carefully retained, upon which shall be recorded the)). The record
shall include the warrant number, date, name of payee, amount, nature of
claims, or services ((briefly stated and by whom allowed. In all
cases where multiple warrants are issued for one claim the auditor must
preserve as many stub entries as there have been warrants issued, noting upon
each stub the claim for which it was issued and the number of warrants which
aggregate the amount of the entire claim allowed)) provided.
Sec.
4. RCW
36.27.020 and 1987 c 202 s 205 are each amended to read as follows:
The
prosecuting attorney shall:
(1) Be
legal adviser of the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative
authority, giving them his or her written opinion when required by the ((board))
legislative authority or the chairperson thereof touching any subject
which the ((board)) legislative authority may be called or
required to act upon relating to the management of county affairs;
(2) Be
legal adviser to all county and precinct officers and school directors in all
matters relating to their official business, and when required draw up all
instruments of an official nature for the use of said officers;
(3)
Appear for and represent the state, county, and all school districts subject to
the supervisory control and direction of the attorney general in all criminal
and civil proceedings in which the state or the county or any school district
in the county may be a party;
(4)
Prosecute all criminal and civil actions in which the state or the county may
be a party, defend all suits brought against the state or the county, and
prosecute actions upon forfeited recognizances and bonds and actions for the
recovery of debts, fines, penalties, and forfeitures accruing to the state or
the county;
(5)
Attend and appear before and give advice to the grand jury when cases are
presented to it for consideration and draw all indictments when required by the
grand jury;
(6)
Institute and prosecute proceedings before magistrates for the arrest of
persons charged with or reasonably suspected of felonies when the prosecuting
attorney has information that any such offense has been committed and the
prosecuting attorney shall for that purpose attend when required by them if the
prosecuting attorney is not then in attendance upon the superior court;
(7)
Carefully tax all cost bills in criminal cases and take care that no useless
witness fees are taxed as part of the costs and that the officers authorized to
execute process tax no other or greater fees than the fees allowed by law;
(8)
Receive all cost bills in criminal cases before district judges at the trial of
which the prosecuting attorney was not present, before they are lodged with the
((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority for
payment, whereupon the prosecuting attorney may retax the same and the
prosecuting attorney must do so if the ((board of county commissioners))
legislative authority deems any bill exorbitant or improperly taxed;
(9)
Present all violations of the election laws which may come to the prosecuting
attorney's knowledge to the special consideration of the proper jury;
(10)
((Examine at least once in each year the public records and books of the
auditor, assessor, treasurer, superintendent of schools, and sheriff of his or
her county and report to the board of county commissioners every failure,
refusal, omission, or neglect of such officers to keep such records and books
as required by law;
(11))) Examine
once in each year the official bonds of all county and precinct officers and
report to the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority
any defect in the bonds of any such officer;
(((12)))
(11) Make an annual report to the governor as of the 31st of December of
each year setting forth the amount and nature of business transacted by the
prosecuting attorney in that year with such other statements and suggestions as
the prosecuting attorney may deem useful;
(((13)))
(12) Send to the state liquor control board at the end of each year a
written report of all prosecutions brought under the state liquor laws in the
county during the preceding year, showing in each case, the date of trial, name
of accused, nature of charges, disposition of case, and the name of the judge
presiding;
(((14)))
(13) Seek to reform and improve the administration of criminal justice
and stimulate efforts to remedy inadequacies or injustice in substantive or
procedural law.
Sec.
5. RCW
36.32.210 and 1969 ex.s. c 182 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(((1)))
Each board of county commissioners of the several counties of the
state of Washington shall, on the first Monday of each year ((beginning with
the year 1964)), file with the auditor of the county ((wherein such
commissioner resides)) a statement verified by oath ((of such county
commissioner)) showing for the twelve months period ending December 31st of
the preceding year, the following:
(((a)))
(1) A full and complete inventory of all ((tools, machinery,
equipment and appliances belonging to the district of such commissioner used or
intended to be used in any public work, except the repair, construction or
maintenance of any road, within said county for which public funds are to be
expended in whole or in part and which said)) capitalized assets shall
be kept in accordance with standards established by the state auditor. This
inventory shall be segregated to show the following subheads:
(((i)))
(a) The assets, including equipment, on hand, together
with a statement of the date when acquired, the amount paid therefor, ((the
present value,)) the estimated life thereof and a sufficient description to
fully identify such property;
(((ii)))
(b) All equipment of every kind or nature sold or disposed of in any
manner during such preceding twelve months period, together with the name of
the purchaser, the amount paid therefor, whether or not the same was sold at
public or private sale, the reason for such disposal and a sufficient
description to fully identify the same;
(((iii)))
(c) All the equipment purchased during said period, together with the
date of purchase, the amount paid therefor, whether or not the same was bought
under competitive bidding, the price paid therefor and the probable life
thereof, the reason for making the purchase and a sufficient description to
fully identify such property;
(((b)
The exact amount of money derived from sources other than tax levy coming into
possession or under the control of such commissioner for or on account of such
district or of the commissioner making such statement; with the name of the
party paying the same, the source from which derived, why so derived, and the
date of its reception.
(c))) (2)
The person to whom such money or any part thereof was paid and why so paid and
the date of such payment.
(((2)
No county commissioner shall maintain official records which duplicate the
records of the county road engineer or any part thereof.))
Sec.
6. RCW
36.32.215 and 1963 c 4 s 36.32.215 are each amended to read as follows:
((Such))
Inventories shall be filed with the county auditor as a public record
and shall be open to the inspection of the public((, provided further that
such county auditor shall cause such inventory and/or inventories to be
published once in the official newspaper of such county within five days after
the filing thereof)).
Sec.
7. RCW
36.40.040 and 1973 c 39 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Upon
receipt of the estimates the auditor shall prepare the county budget which
shall set forth the complete financial program of the county for the ensuing
fiscal year, showing the expenditure program and the sources of revenue by
which it is to be financed.
The
revenue section shall set forth the estimated receipts from sources other than
taxation for each office, department, service, or institution for the ensuing
fiscal year, the actual receipts for the first six months of the current fiscal
year and the actual receipts for the last completed fiscal year, the estimated
surplus at the close of the current fiscal year and the amount proposed to be
raised by taxation.
The
expenditure section shall set forth in comparative and tabular form by offices,
departments, services, and institutions the estimated expenditures for the
ensuing fiscal year, the appropriations for the current fiscal year, the actual
expenditures for the first six months of the current fiscal year including all
contracts or other obligations against current appropriations, and the actual
expenditures for the last completed fiscal year.
All
estimates of receipts and expenditures for the ensuing year shall be fully detailed
in the annual budget and shall be classified and segregated according to a
standard classification of accounts to be adopted and prescribed by the state
auditor through the division of municipal corporations after consultation with
the Washington state association of counties and the Washington state
association of elected county officials.
The
county auditor shall set forth separately in the annual budget to be submitted
to the ((board of county commissioners)) legislative authority
the total amount of emergency warrants issued during the preceding fiscal year,
together with a statement showing the amount issued for each emergency, and the
((board)) legislative authority shall include in the annual tax
levy, a levy sufficient to raise an amount equal to the total of such
warrants: PROVIDED, That the ((board)) legislative authority may
fund the warrants or any part thereof into bonds instead of including them in
the budget levy.
Sec.
8. RCW
36.80.040 and 1969 ex.s. c 182 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
The
office of county engineer shall be an office of record; the county road
engineer shall record and file in his or her office, all matters
concerning the public roads, highways, bridges, ditches, or other surveys of ((his))
the county, with the original papers, documents, petitions, surveys,
repairs, and other papers, in order to have the complete history of any such
road, highway, bridge, ditch, or other survey; and shall number each
construction or improvement project. The county engineer is not required to
retain and file financial documents retained and filed in other departments in
the county.
Sec.
9. RCW
42.24.150 and 1969 c 74 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
On or
before the ((tenth)) fifteenth day following the close of the
authorized travel period for which expenses have been advanced to any officer
or employee, he shall submit to the appropriate official a fully itemized
travel expense voucher, for all reimbursable items legally expended,
accompanied by the unexpended portion of such advance, if any.
Any
advance made for this purpose, or any portion thereof, not repaid or accounted
for in the time and manner specified herein, shall bear interest at the rate of
ten percent per annum from the date of default until paid.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. RCW
36.32.213 and 1963 c 4 s 36.32.213 are each repealed.
