774/Maryland Manual
ARTICLE VI.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

159
SECTION 1. There shall be a Treasury Department, con-
sisting of a Comptroller chosen by the qualified electors of the
State, who shall receive such salary as may be fixed by law; and
a Treasurer, to be appointed on joint ballot by the two Houses of
the Legislature at each regular session in which begins the term
of the Governor, who shall receive such salary as may be fixed
by law. The terms of office of the Comptroller and Treasurer
shall be for four years, and until their successors shall qualify;
and neither of the officers shall be allowed, or receive any fees,
commissions or perquisites of any kind in addition to his salary
for the performance of any duty or services whatsoever. In case
of a vacancy in the office of the Comptroller by death or other-
wise, the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall fill such vacancy by appointment, to continue until
another election and until the qualification of the successor. In
case of a vacancy in the office of the Treasurer by death or oth-
erwise, the Deputy Treasurer shall act as Treasurer until the
next regular or extraordinary session of the Legislature following
the creation of the vacancy, whereupon the Legislature shall
choose a successor to serve for the duration of the unexpired
term of office. The Comptroller and the Treasurer shall keep
their offices at the seat of government, and shall take such oaths
and enter into such bonds for the faithful discharge of their du-
ties as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. The Comptroller shall have the general superin-
tendence of the fiscal affairs of the State; he shall digest and pre-
pare plans for the improvement and management of the revenue,
and for the support of the public credit; prepare and report esti-
mates of the revenue and expenditures of the State; superintend
and enforce the prompt collection of all taxes and revenues; ad-
just and settle, on terms prescribed by law, with delinquent col-
lectors and receivers of taxes and State revenue; preserve all
public accounts; and decide on the forms of keeping and stating
accounts. He, or such of his deputies as may be authorized to do
so by the Legislature, shall grant, under regulations prescribed
by Law, all warrants for money to be paid out of the Treasury,
in pursuance of appropriations by law, and countersign all
checks drawn by the Treasurer upon any bank or banks in
which the moneys of the State, may, from time to time, be de-
posited. He shall prescribe the formalities of the transfer of
stock, or other evidence of the State debt, and countersign the
same, without which such evidence shall not be valid; he shall
make to the General Assembly full reports of all his proceed-
ings, and of the state of the Treasury Department within ten
days after the commencement of each session; and perform such
other duties as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 3. The Treasurer shall receive the moneys of the
State, and, until otherwise prescribed by law, deposit them, as
soon as received, to the credit of the State, in such bank or
banks as he may, from time to time, with the approval of the
Governor, select (the said bank or banks giving security, satis-
factory to the Governor, for the safekeeping and forthcoming,
when required of said deposits), and he or such of his deputies
as may be authorized to do so by the Legislature shall disburse
the same for the purposes of the State according to law, upon
warrants drawn by the Comptroller, or his duly authorized dep-
uty, and on checks countersigned by the Comptroller, or his du-
ly authorized deputy. The Legislature may prescribe, by law, for

the Treasurer to disburse the moneys of the State, by a system
other than by the use of checks. The Treasurer or such of his
deputies as may be authorized to do so by the Legislature shall
take receipts for all moneys paid from the Treasury Department;
and receipt for moneys received by him shall be endorsed upon
warrants signed, by the Comptroller, or such deputy as may be
authorized to do so by law, without which warrants, so signed,
no acknowledgment of money received into the Treasury shall
be valid; and upon warrants issued by the Comptroller, or his
duly authorized deputy, the Treasurer shall make arrangements
for the payment of the interest of the public debt, and for the
purchase thereof, on account of the sinking fund. Every bond,
certificate, or other evidence of the debt of the State shall be
signed by the Treasurer, Chief Deputy Treasurer, or a Deputy
Treasurer, and countersigned by the Comptroller, Chief Deputy
Comptroller, or a Deputy Comptroller; and no new certificate or
other evidence intended to replace another shall be issued until
the old one shall be delivered to the Treasurer, and authority ex-
ecuted in due form for the transfer of the same filed in his office,
and the transfer accordingly made on the books thereof, and the
certificate or other evidence cancelled; but the Legislature may
make provisions for the loss of certificates, or other evidences of
the debt; and may prescribe, by law, the manner in which the
Treasurer shall receive and keep the moneys of the State.

SEC. 4. The Treasurer shall render his Accounts, quarterly, to
the Comptroller; and shall publish, monthly, in such newspapers
as the Governor may direct, an abstract thereof, showing the
amount of cash on hand, and the place, or places of deposit
thereof; and on the third day of each regular session of the Leg-
islature, he shall submit to the Senate and House of Delegates
fair and accurate copies of all Accounts by him, from time to
time, rendered and settled with the Comptroller. He shall, at all
times, submit to the Comptroller the inspection of the money in
his hands, and perform all other duties that shall be prescribed
by Law,

SEC. 5. The Comptroller shall qualify, and enter on the duties
of his office, on the third Monday of January next succeeding
Llic lime of his election, or as soon thereafter as practicable. And
the Treasurer shall qualify within one month after his appoint-
ment by the Legislature.

SEC. 6. Whenever during the recess of the Legislature
charges shall be preferred to the Governor against the Comp-
troller or Treasurer, for incompetency, malfeasance in office,
willful neglect of duty, or misappropriation of the funds of the
State, it shall be the duty of the Governor forthwith to notify the
party so charged, and fix a day for a hearing of said charges; and
if, in the case of the Comptroller, from the evidence taken,
under oath, on said hearing before the Governor, the said allega-
tions shall be sustained, it shall be the duty of the Governor to
remove the Comptroller and appoint another in his place, who
shall hold the office for the unexpired term of the Comptroller
so removed. However, if, in the case of the Treasurer, from the
evidence taken under oath in the hearing before the Governor,
the allegations are sustained, it is the duty of the Governor to
remove the Treasurer, and the Deputy Treasurer shall act as
Treasurer until the next regular or extraordinary session of the
Legislature following the appointment, whereupon a successor
shall be chosen by the Legislature who shall serve for the
unexpired term of the Treasurer so removed.