100 Kan. 4 | Kan. | 1917
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This is a motion to allow damages under section 723 of the civil code against W. E. Davis, personally, because judgment went against him in his official capacity as state auditor (Hicks v. Davis, 97 Kan. 312, 154 Pac. 1030; 97
It is contended that the defendant auditor’s duty was purely ministerial. But the functions of a state auditor are more than those of a mere ministerial officer. The constitution, which creates the office of state auditor (art. 1, § 1), does not define his duties. Therefore they are those which pertained to that office at common law. These are well set forth in The People v. Green, 5 Daly (N. Y. Com. Pleas), 194, where it was said:
“What is an auditor? Originally it meant an officer of the, king, whose duty it was, at stated periods of the year, to examine the accounts of inferior officers and certify to their correctness (Blount’s Dictionary of 1681; Cotgrove’s Dictionary of 1632; Ilastall’s Termes de la Ley; DeFoe’s English Dictionary of 1732), and was afterwards used to designóte those officers of the Court of Exchequer whose duty, according to Coke, was to take the accounts of the receivers of the king’s revenue and ‘audit and perfect them,’ without, however, putting in any changes, their office being only to audit the accounts — that is, ascertain their correctness (4 Coke’s Inst. 107). The very object of examining'and auditing an account is to ascertain whether there are any errors or mistakes in it, and hence the definition of the verb ‘to audit,’ which is to examine, settle and adjust accounts — to verify the accuracy of the statement submitted to the auditing officer or body (McElrath’s Com. Diet.). ‘At the present day,’ says Wedgewood, one of the last writers upon the meaning of English words, ‘this term is confined to the investigation of accounts, the examination and allowance of which is termed the audit.’ ” (p. 200.)
(See, also, 4 Coke’s Inst. 106; Note, 6 C. J. 861.)
The legislature undoubtedly may add ministerial and other duties not incompatible with those of an executive officer, and many such duties have been so imposed, but the common-law powers of the state auditor remain. As such, the auditor must scrutinize every claim against the state, note and verify its genuineness, satisfy himself that the claimant is the party duly entitled thereto, that the claim is presented in due form, that an appropriation has been duly made to meet the demand, that the demand is clearly within the scope of the appropriation act, that the act has been regularly and constitutionally adopted, that the .demand is due when made, and it is within the auditor’s province and within his powers to resolve doubt
The motion is denied.