Office of the State Auditor Administrative records, i 1852-1898.

The auditor was responsible for superintending the fiscal concerns of Utah. This translated into examining county collection and remittance of taxes and their disbursement via warrants drawn on Utah's treasury. These records document these activities with correspondence, reports, accounts, warrants, receipts, etc. Warrant related papers are perhaps the most diverse, including expenditures to state officers, state agencies including the penitentiary, district courts, and county varmint bounties. The auditor also filed railroad incorporation papers, legislative papers left on the table at the end of a session, fiscal reports of the insane asylum, and served as the recorder of marks and brands, but these activities are less frequently documented here.

The auditor noted the collection of taxes from the individual counties. Copies of many receipts issued by the Territorial Treasurer to County Collectors and Assessors for taxes collected are included. A few times, lists of delinquenttaxpayers would be sent in by the county clerk; this was significant after 1867 when the auditor was allowed to enforce collection of taxes.

There is also regular correspondence from the counties (usually the county clerk acting on behalf of the county court--known after statehood in 1896 as the county commission--acting as a board of equalization) reporting the amount assessed, the percentage allotted the Collector and Assessor, and the amount to be remitted to the state. If any taxes were abated, or there were any other corrections to be made on the account, the auditor also was contacted. Under an 1882 law, the county court was to audit the clerk's financial books and send a certified copy to the State Auditor. Thus regular, usually biennial, county financial statements are included as well as the more frequent statement of taxes.

In 1876, county district schools were established along with special taxation. That year includes detailed reports of the numbers of school agechildren in each district along with the county school allotment. Thereafter the school tax was more frequently simply included as part of each county's regular tax report.

Other sources of revenue are less commonly noted. Bond sales were authorized in 1890, and there are some receipts noted in the files. Also in the 1890s, are legal papers in which the auditor pursued bail bonds which were forfeited to the treasury on failure of the defendant to appear in court. After 1892, the courts were also required to file quarterly reports of fines, juror fees, and similar charges of court costs collected in civil and criminal cases.

Any funds withdrawn from the treasury required a warrant from the auditor. Some of the most frequent documents in the records are orders or requests for the auditor to issue a warrant, warrant certificates, or receipts acknowledging the issuing of an auditor's warrant. These are sometimes accompanied by bills or vouchers. Certain agencies account for the bulk ofthe warrant requests, in particular the penitentiary, the territorial marshall, and the district courts. In these cases, the orders were often accompanied by a detailed account statement. Copies of the individual subpoenas, writs, etc. for which a filing or serving fee was claimed might also accompany the request for payment. Penitentiary bills are common in the 1860s and 1870s and again after 1896 when the auditor was given the specific duty of auditing the prison's accounts. The territorial marshall and related court billings also peak in the 1870s and again in the 1890s. Copies of court proceedings, including witness statements, of a case in which the marshall demanded the auditor audit the penitentiary accounts appear in 1877-1878. Marshal's expenses for extraditions and capturing fugitives include detailed accounts, and are common in the 1890s. Requests to cover a prisoner's release gratuity are also common in the 1890s and include statements of the original charge andsentence.

District court costs claims are frequent, including salaries for judges and clerks and fees paid to witnesses and jurors. By the mid-1870s, processing procedures for the latter became standardized with pre-printed witness or juror certificates being sent in to claim payment; summaries of payment abstracts from the courts were also sent. Witness and juror certificates dominate the files in the 1880s.

While court-related billings predominate, other billings or warrant certificates are regularly included. Billings for road and bridge work across the territory are common throughout. The Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing association regularly submitted warrant requests for furniture and supplies. Printing bills for laws, blank forms, and other state business are frequent. Salaries, not only for court officers, but also for the territorial treasurer, the territorial librarian, and the meteorological observer are noted. Withdrawals from the treasury of expenses orappropriations appear for various state agencies, the legislature, county projects, etc., and are documented by vouchers and warrants throughout. Warrants drawn on behalf of public schools and the university occur regularly, and in 1878-1879 there are annual tuition bills for 40 University of Deseret normal students whose attendance was sponsored by the state. Warrant certificates for various types of charges are most frequent following 1888, when a general appropriation permitted payment of debts up to four years old.

In 1869 the auditor's office was designated as the place of deposit for all legislative papers left on the table at the end of each session. Thus there are assorted legislative papers interfiled. Materials from 1869 and 1870 are almost exclusively legislative papers. These include multiple annual agency reports: annual agricultural reports from the individual counties noting land under irrigation and volume of crops produced; county annual fiscal reports; the SupremeCourt's annual report recommending changes in laws; and the Warden's annual fiscal report with convict list reporting crimes, term, road crews, escapees, etc. There are also occasional letters to the house, petitions for relief, lists of legislative officers, lists of laws passed, etc. Letters and petitions to the legislature continue to appear sporadically throughout the series.

Railroad incorporation papers were required to be filed with the auditor from 1869, so rarely they are interfiled in these more general records. In 1888, the territorial insane asylum was established and regular reports to the auditor on the number of state and private patients and the names and salaries of employees are present as required by law. In 1888, arrangements were also made to provide for state payment of half the bounty on varmints. The county clerk was required to present an account to the auditor of the numbers killed and the auditor drew a warrant on the treasury for payment to the county.Thus county bounty reports become a regular item in the late 1880s and into the 1890s. The auditor was also made the recorder of marks and brands in 1897 and a few letters pertain to that duty.

Other individual items of note include a certificate of appointment of the first auditor by Brigham Young in 1852; the auditor's annual report to Governor Young and a published annual report (in a volume with the annual reports of other state offices) in 1891, doc. #21972; a U.S. Attorney General legal opinion regarding legislative expenses; probate judge bonds; 1880 and 1882 biennial reports of the Sealer of Weights and Measures, etc. The type and number of documents extant vary from year to year.