STATE OF INDIANA 
 
 Public Accounting Law 
 
 \ i 
 
 Enacted by the 
 
 Sixty-Sixth General Assembly 
 
 1909 
 
Public Accounting Law. 
 
 Chaptek 55. 
 
 AN A(7I concerning public ac(*ounting and reporting and supervision there¬ 
 of, and providing penalties for violation of this act. 
 
 [S. 2. Approved March 4, 1909.] 
 
 Public Accounting*—Appointments by Governor. 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the 
 State of Indiana, That there is hereby created and estab¬ 
 lished a department of inspection and supervision of public 
 offices. The principal officer of said department shall be 
 known as state examiner, shall be a skillful accountant and 
 well versed in public accounting, and shall receive an annual 
 salary of four thousand dollars, and he shall be appointed 
 by the governor. There shall also be appointed by the gov¬ 
 ernor two deputy examiners who shall have like qualifica¬ 
 tions as the state examiner, and who shall be of different 
 political parties, and each deputy examiner shall receive an 
 annual salary of three thousand dollars, and such deputy 
 examiners shall be subordinate to the state examiner. It 
 shall be the duty of the governor within sixty* days after 
 the taking effect of this act, to appoint such state examiner 
 and to appoint two such deputy examiners. One of such 
 deputy examiners shall be appointed for two years and 
 the other for four years, and their successors shall be ap¬ 
 pointed for four years. The deputy examiners shall be sub¬ 
 ject to removal by the governor upon executive order en¬ 
 tered in writing and showdng cause therefor. The clerk of 
 said department shall be appointed by the state examiner, 
 and shall be responsible to the state examiner, and shall 
 
 receive an annual salarv of two thousand dollars. Said sal- 
 
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 aries provided by this section shall be paid monthly out of 
 any moneys of the state not otherwise appropriated. The 
 department of inspection and supervision of public offices 
 shall be provided with suitable quarters in the state house. 
 
 Y 35480 
 
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 State Board of Accounts—Powers—Duties. 
 
 Sec. 2. The governor, the auditor of state and state ex¬ 
 aminer shall constitute the state board of accounts and as 
 such shall formulate, prescribe and install a system of ac¬ 
 counting and reporting in conformity with the provisions 
 of this act, which shall be uniform for every public office 
 and every public account of the same class, and which shall 
 exhibit true accounts and detailed statements of funds col¬ 
 lected, received and expended for or on account of the pub¬ 
 lic for any and every purpose whatever, and by all public 
 officers, employes or other persons, and which shall show 
 the receipt, use and disposition of all public property, and 
 the income, if any, derived therefrom; and shall show all 
 sources of public income and the amounts due and received 
 from each source, and shall show all receipts, vouchers and 
 other documents kept, or that may be required to be kept, 
 necessary to separate to itself and prove the validity of 
 every transaction; and they shall formulate all statements 
 and reports made or required to be made for the internal 
 administration of the office to which they pertain, and all 
 reports published or that may be required to be made or 
 published for filing in the office of state examiner or for the 
 information of the people, regarding any and all details of 
 the financial administration of public affairs; and they 
 shall from time to time make and enforce such changes in 
 the system and forms of accounting and reporting as shall 
 by them be deemed wise or as may become necessary in or¬ 
 der to conform to law. 
 
 Separate Accounts. 
 
 Sec. 3. Separate accounts shall be kept for every ap¬ 
 propriation or fund made by or accruing to any munici¬ 
 pality, showing date and manner of each payment made out 
 of the funds provided for [by] such appropriation, the name, 
 address and vocation of each person, firm, organization, cor¬ 
 poration or association to whom paid, and for what paid, 
 such name, vocation and address to be embodied in and 
 verified in all claims by law required to be filed for pay¬ 
 ment. Separate accounts shall be kept for each depart¬ 
 ment, undertaking, institution and public service industry. 
 Accounts of public service industries shall show the true 
 
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 and entire cost of the ownership and operation thereof, the 
 amount collected annually by general or special taxation for 
 service rendered to the public and the amount and character 
 — of the service rendered therefor, and the amount collected 
 annually from private users, if any, for service rendered to 
 them, and the amount and character of the service rendered 
 therefor. 
 
 State Examiner—Reports to—Contents. 
 
 Sec. 4. The state examiner shall require from every mu¬ 
 nicipality and every public institution, financial reports cov- 
 .ering the full period of each fiscal year, said reports to be 
 made respectively by the county auditor, township trustee, 
 city clerk, town clerk and secretary of the board of school 
 trustees or commissioners for their respective municipali¬ 
 ties, and by the superintendents of public institutions, in 
 accordance with the forms and methods herein provided 
 for, which shall be uniform for all accounts of the same 
 class, which said reports shall be prepared, verified and 
 filed with the state examiner within thirty days after the 
 close of each fiscal year, which shall be December 31st of 
 each year in all cases in which the fiscal year is not other¬ 
 wise fixed by law. Such reports shall contain an accurate 
 statement, in summarized form, of all collections made by 
 or receipts received by such municipalities and institutions 
 from all sources, all accounts due the public treasury but 
 not collected and of all expenditures for every purpose and 
 by what authority authorized, and also: 
 
 (a) A statement of all costs of ownership and operation 
 and of all income of every public service industry owned by 
 any municipality. 
 
 (i>) A statement of the entire public debt of each munic¬ 
 ipality and such other and further or more specific infor¬ 
 mation in relation to the cost of any branch of the municipal 
 service or any improvement therein as may be required by 
 the state examiner. 
 
 (c) A statement of all revenues received from the pay¬ 
 ments of liquor licenses and in addition thereto an itemized 
 statement of all amounts remaining unpaid upon any liquor 
 licenses theretofore granted or then in force. 
 
 (d) A statement showing the amount of the common 
 school funds in the custody of each county, including an 
 
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 itemized statement showing the investment of all such 
 funds, of delinquent school fund mortgages, and of lands 
 forfeited for non-payment of school fund mortgages. 
 
 Examiner—Comparative Statistics. 
 
 Sec. 5. The substance of the reports required by the 
 provisions of this act shall be arranged by the state exam¬ 
 iner in such form as shall indicate the comparative receipts 
 of the various sources of revenue and the comparative costs 
 of the several branches of government in the specified mu¬ 
 nicipalities and shall be published in an annual statement 
 of comparative statistics, which shall be issued for each 
 class of municipalities at the expense of the state as a pub¬ 
 lic document, and shall be submitted by the state examiner 
 annually to the governor and to the legislature at each reg¬ 
 ular session. Copies thereof shall also be furnished by him 
 to each municipality named therein. 
 
 Forms for Reports—Blanks, Etc. 
 
 Sec. 6 . The governor, auditor of state and state exam¬ 
 iner shall formulate, prescribe and approve the forms for 
 reports herein required to be made, and the state examiner 
 shall annually furnish to the officers required to make re¬ 
 ports by the provisions of this act, at least ninety days be¬ 
 fore the time such reports are required to be filed with him, 
 such printed blanks and forms on which shall be indicated 
 the information required, together with suitable printed in¬ 
 structions for filling out the same. In formulating, pre¬ 
 scribing and installing a uniform system of accounting and 
 reporting, the governor, auditor of state and state examiner 
 may employ necessary clerical assistants and one or more 
 expert assistants at a reasonable compensation to be by 
 them determined, and such compensation shall be paid out 
 of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, upon vouchers 
 certified as to correctness by the state examiner, and com¬ 
 plying in all respects with the law relating to disbursements 
 by the state government. 
 
 Assistants—Field Examiners. 
 
 Sec. 7. The state examiner shall appoint assistants not 
 exceeding such number as in the judgment of the governor, 
 the auditor and the state examiner may be required to ad- 
 
minister the provisions of this act. Such assistants shall 
 be known as ‘ ‘ field examiners ’ ’ and shall at all times be sub¬ 
 ject to the order and direction of the state examiner, and 
 shall be charged with the duty of inspecting and examining 
 accounts of such municipalities. Such field examiners shall 
 be paid as provided in section 14 of this act, the sum of ten 
 dollars for each day employed, and one railroad fare each 
 way between their respective homes and the place of exam¬ 
 ination. No field examiner shall receive more than one per 
 diem for work performed in any one day, and no other al- 
 lowa ^ice for expenses shall be made to such field examiners. 
 
 Competitive Examinations. 
 
 Sec. 8. Such field examiners shall be appointed from 
 applicants who shall have successfully passed an open, com¬ 
 petitive examination for testing their fitness for appoint¬ 
 ment. Such examinations shall be made at stated periods 
 by the chief examiner and deputy examiners after due an¬ 
 nouncement in the public press, and shall be practical in 
 their character, and as far as may be shall relate to those 
 matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fit¬ 
 ness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the 
 office, and all appointments of field examiners shall be made 
 solely upon the ground of fitness and without regard to the 
 political affiliatLon of the appointee, excepting that no more 
 than one-half of the number of field examiners employed 
 at any one time shall belong to any one political party. The 
 state board of accounts is empowered to make and estab¬ 
 lish, and from time to time alter and amend by-laws, rules * 
 and regulations for the proper enforcement of the provi¬ 
 sions of this section. 
 
 State Examiner—Duties—Powers. 
 
 Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of the state examiner, and 
 he is given full power to examine personally or through the 
 deputy examiners and field examiners, all accounts and all 
 financial affairs of every public office and officer and of 
 every public institution, including all state offices and state 
 institutions, and shall make such examination at least once 
 each year. On every such examination inquiry shall be 
 made as to the financial condition and resources of each mu¬ 
 nicipality or institution, whether the laws of the state and 
 
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 the requirements of the department of inspection and su¬ 
 pervision of public offices have been complied with, and into 
 the methods and accuracy of the accounts and reports of the 
 office examined. Such examinations shall he made without 
 notice. The state examiner, deputy examiners or any field 
 examiner when engaged in making any examination as pro¬ 
 vided in this act, or when engaged in any official duty de¬ 
 volved upon them as such, shall have the right to enter into 
 any state, county, city, or township or other public office 
 or offices in this state, or any public institution, and examine 
 any books, papers or documents contained therein or be¬ 
 longing thereto for the purpose of making such examina¬ 
 tion, and shall have access, in the presence of the custodian 
 thereof or his deputy, to the cash drawers and cash in the 
 custody of such officer, and they shall also have the right, 
 during business hours to examine the public accounts in 
 any depository which has public funds in its custody pur¬ 
 suant to the laws of this state. The state examiner, deputy 
 examiner or any field examiner, when engaged in making 
 any examination of any office, officer, board or institution, 
 or any other examination authorized by this act, may issue 
 subpoenas for witnesses to appear before him in person or 
 to produce books and papers before him for inspection and 
 examination. They shall have the authority to administer 
 oaths and to examine such witnesses under oath orally or 
 by interrogatories propounded touching the matters under 
 investigation and examination, and under authority of the 
 state examiner, such oral examination may be taken in 
 shorthand and transcribed, and the reasonable expense 
 thereof shall be paid by the municipality in the same man¬ 
 ner as the compensation of the field examiner is paid. Such 
 subpoenas shall be served by any person authorized to serve 
 civil process from any court in this state. In case any wit¬ 
 ness duly subpoenaed refuses to attend, or refuses to pro¬ 
 duce documents, books and papers as required in such sub¬ 
 poena, or shall attend and refuse to make oath or affirma¬ 
 tion, or being sworn or affirmed, shall refuse to testify when 
 called upon so to do, then such person shall be by such ex¬ 
 aminer reported to the prosecuting attorney of the county 
 or judicial district where the offense is committed for pro¬ 
 ceedings by that officer under section 504 of an act entitled 
 ^^An act concerning public offenses,’’ approved March 10, 
 
 
7 
 
 1905, and such examiner may apply to the circuit court hav¬ 
 ing jurisdiction thereof for the enforcement of attendance 
 and answers to questions as provided by law in the matter 
 of taking depositions. Wilful false swearing in such examin¬ 
 ation shall he perjury and shall be punishable as such. A re¬ 
 port of such examination shall be made; signed and verified 
 in duplicate by the officer making the examination, one copy 
 to be filed with the state examiner, one copy to be filed with 
 the officer or institution examined, and one copy to be filed 
 with the auditing department of the municipality examined 
 and reported upon. If any such examination discloses mal¬ 
 feasance, misfeasance or non-feasance in office on the part 
 of any officer or employe, an additional copy of such report 
 shall be so made, signed and verified, and it shall be the 
 duty of the state examiner to place such report with the 
 governor, and the governor shall transmit the same to the 
 attomey general and the attorney general shall institute 
 and prosecute such civil proceedings against such delin¬ 
 quent officer, or upon his official bond or both, as will carry 
 into effect the findings resulting from such examination and 
 secure to the proper municipality the recovery of any funds 
 misappropriated. Any such report as is described in this 
 section or a copy thereof duly certified by the state examin¬ 
 er shall be taken and received in any and all the courts of 
 this state, as evidence of the facts in such reports stated and 
 contained. It shall be unlawful for any deputy examiner 
 or field examiner to make any disclosure of the result of any 
 examination of any public account excepting as he shall 
 make the same to the state examiner, or as he shall be di¬ 
 rected to give publicity to any such matter by the state ex¬ 
 aminer, or by any court. 
 
 Failure to Report—Penalty. 
 
 Sec. 10. Any public officer who shall fail or neglect to 
 make, verify and file with the state examiner any such re¬ 
 port as is required by this act, or who shall fail or neglect 
 to follow the directions of the state examiner in keeping the 
 accounts of his office, or who shall refuse the state exam¬ 
 iner, deputy examiner or field examiner access to the books, 
 accounts, papers, documents or cash drawer or cash of his 
 office, or who shall in any way interfere with such exam¬ 
 iners in the discharge of their official duties shall be guilty 
 
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 of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one hun¬ 
 dred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, and shall 
 forfeit and be removed from his office in the manner now or 
 hereafter provided by law. 
 
 Fee Records—Fee and Salary Book—Open to Public. 
 
 Sec. 11 There shall be kept in the office of each X-)ublic 
 officer, board, commission and institution in this state, a 
 record of fees collected for the public treasury, and in addi¬ 
 tion a separate fee and salary book, both of which shall at 
 all times be subject to public inspection, the forms for 
 which, for each class of offices, shall be devised and formu¬ 
 lated by the governor, auditor and state examiner provided 
 in this act. It shall be the duty of all public officers in this 
 state, all boards, commissioners, commissions, superintend¬ 
 ents of institutions, constables, justices of the peace, town 
 and city marshals and mayors, city judges and mayors who 
 act as city judges, and all other persons who collect fees for 
 their services or as otherwise provided by law or in the 
 course of their official duty, to keep a complete record of 
 all such fees collected from any and every source whatever, 
 and such officers and persons shall keep a separate record of 
 all such fees as are payable into the public treasur}^, and a 
 separate record showing all fees and salaries received by 
 any officer or person, and it shall be the duty of all such of¬ 
 ficers who employ deputies, assistants, clerks, stenograph¬ 
 ers or other employes who receive a salary, fees from any 
 source whatever, or other compensation, paid with public 
 funds, to enter in such fee and salary book the names of all 
 such officers and persons, including himself, as receive any 
 such compensation, and the amount thereof, from time to 
 time, as the same accrues, and to show upon each book the 
 particulars of each item and from whom and on what ac¬ 
 count the same accrues and when the same was paid to the 
 officer or other person, and by whom paid. The intention 
 and purpose of this section is declared to be that such book 
 shall contain separately the items and totals of all sums col¬ 
 lected for the benefit of the public treasury and of all sums 
 received by the respective persons for all services rendered 
 and which accrues to them respectively on account of their 
 exercising the duties of such position so held by them re¬ 
 spectively, and that this section shall be construed to apply 
 
9 
 
 to all state officers, state institutions, state commissioners 
 or commissions, and to all county, city, town, township and 
 school officers in this state. Snch records as are provided 
 for in this section shall be public records and shall always 
 be accessible to the public. 
 
 Fines or Forfeitures—Record Book—Reports—Penalty. 
 
 Sec. 12. It shall also be the duty of any officer who col¬ 
 lects or receives fines or forfeitures belonging to the State 
 of Indiana, to keep in a separate book a record of all sums 
 received from such fines and forfeitures, the amount of each 
 and from whom and when received. It shall be the duty of 
 the clerk of every court possessing criminal jurisdiction, 
 and of every justice of the peace, mayor or city judge who 
 assesses fines, to make report forthwith to the auditor of 
 state of any and all fines assessed in such courts or by such 
 justices of the peace, mayors or city judges for violation of 
 the criminal statutes of the State of Indiana, arid upon pay¬ 
 ment of any such fines forthwith to report such payment to 
 the auditor of state, and it shall be the duty of such officers 
 immediately upon the occurrence thereof, to report to the 
 auditor of state the forfeiture of all bonds and recogni¬ 
 zances in which the principals have defaulted, and for the 
 purpose of making such report a forfeiture shall be deemed 
 to have occurred whenever and as soon as the principal in 
 said bond or recognizance shall have defaulted therein, and 
 upon payment of any such forfeiture the same shall be by 
 such officer reported forthwith to the auditor of state, and 
 it shall be the duty of the auditor of state to keep an ac¬ 
 count of all such fines and forfeitures and payments thereof 
 and to charge such officers therewith as debtors to the com¬ 
 mon school fund immediately upon the report of payment 
 thereof. The examination in this act'provided for shall ex¬ 
 tend to the offices of justice of the peace and all mayors and 
 city judges who collect and receive such fines and forfeit¬ 
 ures. The expense of such examinations shall be paid for 
 by the township in and for which such person is justice of 
 the peace, or by the city or town for which such person is 
 mayor or judge, as the case may be, and as provided in 
 section 14 of this act. Any public officer who shall violate 
 any of the provisions of sections 11 and 12 of this act or 
 fails to comply therewith shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
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 and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than one 
 hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and 
 shall forfeit and be removed from his office as now or here¬ 
 after provided by law. 
 
 Audit of Bills—Warrant—Quietus. 
 
 Sec. 13. It shall be the duty of every officer having au¬ 
 thority to draw the warrant of the state or of any munic¬ 
 ipality referred to in this act in disbursing its funds, or 
 who has authority to execute the receipt and quietus of the 
 state or of such municipality in settlement with public of¬ 
 ficers or with debtors, before presenting the same for al¬ 
 lowance to the board or other authority required to pass 
 upon the same, to make an examination of all claims as to 
 their form, the authentication thereof as required by law, 
 whether they are based upon contract or statutory author¬ 
 ity, and as to their apparent correctness, and upon present¬ 
 ing the same to file therewith his certificate in writing as to 
 such matters in respect to each and all of such claims; and 
 where the authority to pass upon and allow such claim is 
 lodged in such officer, he shall, before drawing a warrant 
 therefor, certify to the correctness thereof over his official 
 signature, and it shall be his duty before issuing the receipt 
 or quietus of the state or municipality to any debtor or any 
 officer making settlement with the state or municipality to 
 examine the report, account or settlement sheet upon which 
 settlement is made, and to require of such debtor or officer, 
 or to otherwise secure all such information, accounts, vouch¬ 
 ers or exhibits as shall be necessary to satisfy such officer 
 issuing such receipt or quietus of the correctness of such re¬ 
 port, account or settlement sheet, and to certify thereon 
 that he has made such examination and is satisfied as to its 
 correctness, and no such warrant or quietus shall be issued 
 by any such officer until such certificate shall have been exe¬ 
 cuted and filed with such claim, report, account or settle¬ 
 ment sheet. 
 
 Expense of Examinations—How Paid. 
 
 Sec. 14. The expense of examination and investigation 
 of public accounts, provided for herein, shall be paid by 
 each municipality for the examination and investigation of 
 its accounts, including those of its public service industries. 
 
11 
 
 and when any field examiner shall file with the state exam¬ 
 iner his voucher in form prescribed by law relating to state 
 expenditures, the state examiner, if he approve the same, 
 is hereby authorized and empowered to certify the expense 
 of such examination and investigation to the auditor of the 
 county in which such municipality is situate, who shall 
 forthwith and without any appropriation being made there- ^ 
 for, issue his warrant for the amount stated in such certifi¬ 
 cate on the county treasurer, payable to the person named 
 in such certificate, out of the general fund of the county, 
 said fund, except as to expense for examining and investi¬ 
 gating the financial affairs of the county and its offices and 
 officers, to be reimbursed by the county auditor out of the 
 moneys due such municipality at the next semi-annual set¬ 
 tlement of the collection of taxes, in case of school corpora¬ 
 tions the same to be deducted from the special school fund. 
 In the event the county to whom such claim may be made 
 shall not have possession or collection of funds due or to be 
 due to any municipality the affairs of which are examined, 
 then such certificates shall be filed with, and such warrant 
 shall be drawn by the disbursing officer of such municipality 
 having authority to draw warrants upon its funds, and said 
 warrant shall be paid forthwith without any appropriation 
 being made therefor. In case it shall be necessary to em¬ 
 ploy such field examiners in the investigation of state offices 
 or state institutions then such certificate of expense shall 
 be made to the auditor of the State of Indiana, who shall 
 draw the warrant of the state to cover the same, which war¬ 
 rant shall be paid out of funds not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Traveling Expenses. 
 
 Sec. 15. The necessary traveling expenses of the state 
 examiner and his deputies when engaged in the business of 
 the state, shall, when approved by the governor and duly 
 itemized and accompanied with vouchers, as required by 
 the law relating to state expenditures, be paid out of mon¬ 
 eys not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 Bonds Required. 
 
 Sec. 16. The officers provided for by this act shall each 
 give bond for the faithful performance of his duties, as fol¬ 
 lows: The state examiner in the sum of five thousand dol- 
 
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 lars, to be approved by the governor; each deputy exam¬ 
 iner in the sum of three thousand dollars, to be approved 
 by the governor; and each held examiner in the sum of one 
 thousand dollars, to be approved by the state examiner. 
 
 Definitions. 
 
 Sec. 17. The term “municipality,’^ as used in this act, 
 shall be construed to extend to, include and mean any coun¬ 
 ty, township, city, town, school town, school township, or 
 school city in this state. The term “public office,” as used 
 in this act, shall be construed to extend to, include and mean 
 the office of any and every person who for or on behalf of 
 the state or any municipality or any public service indus¬ 
 try, holds, receives, disburses or keeps the accounts of the 
 receipts and disbursements of any public funds. The term 
 “public officer,” as used in this act, shall be construed to ex¬ 
 tend to, include and mean any person who holds, receives, 
 disburses or is required by law to keep any account of public 
 funds. The term “public institution,” as used in this act, 
 shall be construed to extend to, include and mean any insti¬ 
 tution or public service industry maintained in whole or in 
 part at public expense or supported in whole or in part by 
 appropriations or public funds or by taxation. The term 
 “public service industries,” as used in this act, shall be 
 construed to extend to, include and mean any and all public 
 service industries owned either directly by the municipal¬ 
 ity or to the support of which the municipality contributes 
 from public funds, or the capital stock of which the munici¬ 
 pality may be the owner of any part, or the bonds of which 
 may be owned or guaranteed by the municipality. 
 
 Bribe—Offer or Acceptance—Penalty. 
 
 Sec. 18. If any person shall give or offer to any state 
 examiner, deputy examiner, field examiner, clerk or other 
 employe of the department of inspection and supervision of 
 public offices, any money, gift, emolument, compensation or 
 thing of value in order to influence the action of such exam¬ 
 iner or other person in any matter pending in said depart¬ 
 ment or in the matter of the examination of any public ac¬ 
 count, or for the purpose of preventing or delaying the ex¬ 
 amination of any public account or for the purpose of in¬ 
 fluencing the action of such examiner or other person in 
 
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 4 
 
 framing, changing, withholding or delaying any report of 
 any examination of any public account, he shall, upon con¬ 
 viction thereof, be fined in any sum not more than five thou¬ 
 sand dollars or shall be imprisoned in the state prison for 
 not less than one year nor more than fourteen years, or 
 both, and any state examiner, deputy examiner, field exam¬ 
 iner, clerk or other employe of the department of inspection 
 and supervision of public offices who shall receive or solicit 
 any money, gift, emolument, compensation or thing of value 
 for the purpose of being influenced in any matter pending 
 in said department or in the matter of the examination of 
 any public account, or for the purpose .of being influenced 
 to prevent or delay the examination of any public account 
 or for the purpose of being influenced to change, delay or 
 withhold any report of the examination of any public ac¬ 
 count, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum 
 not more than five thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned 
 in the state prison for not less than one year nor more than 
 fourteen years, or both. For the purpose of this section the 
 term ‘‘public account’’ shall be construed to extend to, in¬ 
 clude and mean any account, the examination of which is 
 provided for in this act. 
 
 Examinations Without Notice^—Penalty. 
 
 Sec. 19. All examinations provided for in this act or 
 made under or pursuant to the provisions of this act shall 
 be made without notice to the officers whose accounts are to 
 be examined, and without notice to any clerk, deputy, em¬ 
 ploye or other person employed in or connected with the 
 office or the business of such officer, and any person who 
 shall give or cause to be given directly or indirectly any no¬ 
 tice or knowledge of any proposed examination of any pub¬ 
 lic account to the officer in charge of such account or to any 
 other person other than as such notice or knowledge shall 
 be communicated as between the state examiner, deputy ex¬ 
 aminers and field examiners, shall, upon conviction thereof, 
 be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or 
 shall be imprisoned in the county jail for not less than six 
 months, or both. 
 
14 
 
 Books, Records and Forms. 
 
 Sec. 20. No system for uniform bookkeeping or any 
 book, record or form which may hereafter be adopted shall 
 be copyrighted unless it shall be deemed expedient by the 
 governor that a copyright be procured in the name of the 
 state; and, if any such copyright be procured, the accept¬ 
 ance by the state or by any municipality of any bid for 
 printed supplies of any sort shall operate as a license from 
 the state to the successful bidder to manufacture any such 
 copyrighted books, records or forms included in such bid 
 for public use without payment of royalty. All public books, 
 records and stationery used in the offices for which examina¬ 
 tion is provided in this act, shall be purchased by the state, 
 municipality or institution after the manner now provided 
 by law. 
 
 When Act in Effect. 
 
 Sec. 21. The uniform system of accounting and report¬ 
 ing and inspection provided therefor shall be installed as 
 far as possible in all the offices referred to in this act, at the 
 beginning of the next fiscal year of the municipality subse¬ 
 quent to the taking effect of this act. The examination pro¬ 
 vided for in this act under authority of the state examiner 
 shall not extend back more than one year prior to the begin¬ 
 ning of such fiscal year except on authority of the governor. 
 
 Officers—Duties as to Books, Etc.—Penalty. 
 
 Sec. 22. It is hereby made the duty of the various of¬ 
 ficers of the state and its institutions and municipalities to 
 adopt and use the books, forms, records and systems of ac¬ 
 counting and reporting that shall be adopted by the board 
 of accounts, when directed so to do by said board, and all 
 forms, books, and records necessary thereto shall be pur¬ 
 chased by said officers and in the manner now provided by 
 law. Any officer or person who shall refuse to provide such 
 books, forms, or records, or who shall fail or refuse to use 
 them, or who shall fail or refuse to keep the accounts of his 
 office as directed by said board as provided herein, shall be 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined 
 not less than one hundred ($100) dollars and removed from 
 such office. 
 
15 
 
 Repeal. 
 
 Sec. 23. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this 
 act are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict; pro¬ 
 vided, that the provisions of this act shall not be construed 
 to relieve any officer of any duties now required by law of 
 him with relation to the auditing of public accounts or the 
 disbursement of public funds, but the provisions of this act 
 shall be construed to be supplemental to all existing pro¬ 
 visions of law safe-guarding the care and disbursement of 
 public funds: Andy provided furthery That the provisions 
 of this act shall not be construed to limit or curtail the 
 power of the governor of the state, under existing laws, to 
 make examination or investigation of any public office or to 
 require reports therefrom. 
 
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