Reports of Officers.
§ 156-130. Drainage commissioners to make statements.
It shall be the duty of the commissioners of all drainage districts in the State of North Carolina organized under the provisions of the laws thereof to file with the clerk of the superior court in the county where such district is organized a monthly statement or account during the course of construction of canals for the district, showing the receipts and expenditures of all funds coming into their hands belonging to such drainage district for the period of one month prior to the day on which the same is filed, and also to post a copy of such statement or account at the courthouse door in the county. After the construction of the canals has been concluded and the drainage commissioners have only to maintain the canals, said drainage commissioners shall only be required to file and post the annual statement required in G.S. 156-131. Such statement or account shall be certified by the chairman of the board of commissioners of each drainage district and shall be attested by the secretary thereof, and a copy thereof shall be filed and kept as a part of the minutes of the district. (1917, c. 72, s. 1; C.S., s. 5374; 1927, c. 98, s. 6.)
At the end of each fiscal year the board of commissioners of all drainage districts in the State of North Carolina shall file with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the district is organized a verified itemized statement of receipts and expenditures of all funds belonging to the district during the fiscal year just closed. (1917, c. 72, s. 2; C.S., s. 5375; 1957, c. 1410, s. 2.)
§ 156-132. Penalty for failure.
Any board of commissioners of any drainage district in the State, and each of the members thereof, which shall fail or refuse to file the statements or accounts, as provided in G.S. 156-130 and 156-131, shall be deemed guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1917, c. 72, s. 3; C.S., s. 5376; 1957, c. 1410, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 1079; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)
§ 156-133. Auditor appointed; duties; compensation.
The clerk of the superior court for the county where the district was organized, shall annually appoint an intelligent and competent person of sufficient experience, as auditor for each drainage district which levies current assessments or which has accumulated funds. The same person may be auditor of more than one drainage district. The auditor shall annually report to the court as to financial affairs of the drainage district. The auditor may prepare all financial reports required by the drainage law to be made to the court by the commissioners of the drainage district. The compensation of the auditor shall be fixed by the said clerk of the superior court, and shall be paid out of the general, or operating, fund of the district. (1917, c. 152, s. 10; 1919, c. 208, s. 3; C.S., s. 5377; 1959, c. 420; 1963, c. 767, s. 11.)
§ 156-134. Duties of the auditor.
The auditor for the drainage district will be required to examine the assessment roll and the records and accounts of the sheriff or tax collector as to the assessment roll which went into his hands on the previous first Monday in September and for all previous years as to which the records and accounts of the sheriff or tax collector have not been audited.
The auditor shall for each of such years make a report as to each drainage district, showing the total amount of drainage assessments due for each year, the amount collected by the sheriff up to the fifteenth day of May of the following year, the names of the owners of land, and a brief description of the lands on which the drainage assessments have not been paid, and the total amount of unpaid drainage assessments, with any further data or information which the auditor may regard as pertinent.
If the lands in the district lie in other counties, the auditor for the county in which the district was established shall also examine the records of the sheriff or tax collector for such other counties.
The auditor shall also examine the books of the treasurer for similar years, and he shall report the amount of drainage assessments paid to the treasurer by the sheriff or tax collector for each year, and the amounts paid out by the treasurer during such years, and for what purposes paid. It shall be the duty of the sheriff and treasurer to permit the auditor to examine their official books and records and to furnish all necessary information, and to assist the auditor in the discharge of his duties.
The auditor shall make a report to the board of county commissioners on or before the first Monday in July following his appointment, and he shall deliver a duplicate of such report to the chairman of the board of drainage commissioners of each drainage district established in the county.
If the sheriff has not collected all of the drainage assessments, or has not paid over all collections to the treasurer, or if the treasurer has not made disbursements of the drainage funds as required by law, or has not in his hands the funds not so disbursed by him, it shall be the duty of the auditor to so report, and to prepare two certified copies of his report, one of which shall be delivered to the judge holding a session of superior court in the county following the first Monday in July, and a copy to the district attorney of the prosecutorial district as defined in G.S. 7A-60 in which the county is located, and it shall be the duty of such district attorney to examine carefully such report and to institute such action, civil or criminal, against the sheriff or tax collector or the treasurer, as the facts contained in the report may justify, or as may be required by law. (1917, c. 152, s. 10; C.S., s. 5378; 1963, c. 767, s. 4; 1973, c. 47, s. 2; c. 108, s. 97; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, s. 124.)