ARTICLE VI.

TR£AS URY DFPA RTMENT.

SECTION I.¹⁶⁵ There shall be a Treasury Depart-
ment, consisting 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, com-
missions or perquisites of any kind in addition to his salary
for the performance of any dun- or services whatsoever. In
case of a vacancy in the office of the Comptroller by death
or otherwise, the Governor, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall fill such vacancy by appoint-
ment, 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 otherwise, 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 unex-
pired term of office. The Comptroller and the Treasurer
shall keep their offices at the scat of government, and shall
take such oaths and enter into such bonds for the faithful
discharge of their duties as are now or may hereafter be
prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. The Comptroller shall have the general
superintendence of the fiscal affairs of the State; he shall
digest and prepare plans for the improvement and man-
agement of the revenue, and for the support of the public
credit; prepare and report estimates of the revenue and
expenditures of the State; superintend and enforce the
prompt collection of all taxes and revenues; adjust and
settle, on terms prescribed by law, with delinquent collec-
tors 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 deposited. 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 proceedings, 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, satisfactory to the Governor, for the safe-
keeping 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 deputy,
and on checks countersigned by the Comptroller, or his
duly authorized deputy. The Legislature may prescribe, by
law, for the Treasurer to disburse the moneys of the State,
by a system other than bv the use of checks. '1 lie 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 acknow-
ledgment of money received into the Treasury shall be valid;
and upon warrants issued by the Comptroller, or his duly
authorized deputy, tile 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. F.vcry
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 executed in due form for the
transfer of the same filed in his office, and the transfer
accordingly made on me 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 ender his Accounts, quar-
terly, 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 Legislature, 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 the time of his election, or as soon
thereafter as practicable. And the Treasurer shall qualify
within one month after his appointment bv the Legisla-
ture.

SEC. 6.¹⁶⁸ Whenever during the recess of the Legisla-
ture charges shall be preferred to the Governor against the
Comptroller or Treasurer, for incompetcncy, 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 allegations 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