Official Bank Account-County Clerk

Every county official handling public funds, including the county clerk, is required to maintain an official bank account in a bank or banks within this state and to deposit any public funds to the official account or accounts within three (3) days of receipt.  All county funds deposited with a bank or financial institution must be secured by collateral in the same manner and under the same conditions as state deposits as provided in Title 9, Chapter 4, Tennessee Code Annotated, and county clerks who maintain official accounts are authorized to enter into agreements with banks and other financial institutions as necessary for the maintenance of collateral to secure the funds on deposit.  All disbursements from these accounts must be made by consecutively pre-numbered checks.  A county clerk may also maintain a petty cash fund in an amount sufficient to transact the official business of the office.  Any violation of the provisions governing official bank accounts is a Class C misdemeanor. T.C.A. § 5-8-207.

Deposit slips, deposit books, bank statements, canceled checks, and check books must be accurately maintained.  As a practical matter, a county clerk should keep all available cash in daily interest bearing accounts.  In one instance, a county official was charged with felony misappropriation because the official had agreed not to deposit a check at the request of a citizen until sufficient funds were in the bank to cover the check.