Article 4 - Requisitions and Warrants

California Education Code — §§ 85230-85244

Sections (17)

Amended by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1372, Sec. 699.

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this code, money shall be paid from the funds of any community college district for the payment of the expenses of the district, only as provided in this article.

(b)The Legislature reaffirms the status of the California Community Colleges as a segment of public higher education and the role of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges in providing general supervision over community college districts. The Legislature also reaffirms its grant of substantial fiscal autonomy to community college districts. It is the intent of the Legislature to provide for certain relationships between county offices and community college districts while confirming that governance authority over the community college districts rests with district governing boards and the board of governors.

§ 85231

Amended by Stats. 1977, Ch. 36.

All payments from the funds of a community college district shall be made by written order of the governing board of the district. Orders shall be on forms prescribed by the county superintendent of schools. Forms may be printed and furnished by the board of supervisors or the county superintendent of schools.

§ 85232

Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.

Each order drawn on the funds of a community college district shall be signed by at least a majority of the members of the governing board of the district, or by a person or persons authorized by the governing board to sign orders in its name. No person other than an officer or employee of the district shall be authorized to sign orders.

§ 85233

Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 758, Sec. 131. Effective January 1, 1996.

The governing board of each community college district shall be responsible for filing, or causing to be filed, with the county superintendent of schools the verified signature of each person, including members of the governing board, authorized to sign orders in its name. Except for districts determined to be fiscally accountable pursuant to Section 85266 and districts determined to be fiscally independent pursuant to Section 85266.5, no order on the funds of any district shall be approved by the county superintendent of schools unless the signatures are on file in the superintendent’s office and he or she is satisfied that the signatures on the order are those of persons authorized to sign the order.

§ 85234

Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.

Each order drawn against the funds of a community college district shall be numbered and shall state:

(a)the particular fund or funds of the district against which it is drawn, (b) the amount of the payment to be made from each fund, and (c) the rate of salary and the period of service of any employee of the district for whom an order is issued for payment of salary or wages. If drawn for any purpose other than the payment of salaries or wages of district employees, the order shall be accompanied by an itemized bill showing the separate items and the price of each.

§ 85235

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 23. Effective October 7, 2005.

Each order drawn against the funds of a community college district shall be transmitted to the county superintendent of schools, and, if approved and signed by him or her, shall become a requisition on the county auditor. The county superintendent may prescribe alternative procedures for districts determined to be fiscally accountable pursuant to Section 85266.

§ 85236

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 24. Effective October 7, 2005.

The county superintendent of schools may examine each order on community college district funds transmitted to him or her, in the order in which it is received in his or her office. If it appears that the order is properly drawn for the payment of legally authorized expenses against the proper funds of the district, and that there are sufficient moneys in the fund or funds against which the order is drawn to pay it, he or she shall endorse upon it “examined and approved,” and shall, in attestation thereof, affix his or her signature and number and date the requisition and transmit it directly to the county auditor, in the order in which the order is received in his or her office. The county superintendent may prescribe alternative methods for districts determined to be fiscally accountable pursuant to Section 85266.

§ 85237

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 25. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)If, at any time during a fiscal year, the county superintendent of schools concludes that the expenditures of a community college district in the territory within his or her jurisdiction are likely to exceed the anticipated income of the district for that fiscal year, he or she shall notify the district in writing of that conclusion, and may conduct a comprehensive review of the financial and budgetary conditions of the district.

(b)The superintendent shall report his or her findings and recommendations under this section to the governing board of the district, and may include recommendations of methods by which the budgeted expenditures for the balance of the fiscal year may be brought into balance with the revenue of the district. The report shall be made to the governing board at a public meeting of the governing board. The governing board shall, no later than 15 days after receipt of the report, notify the county superintendent of schools of its proposed actions on those recommendations.

§ 85237.5

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 26. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)At any time during a fiscal year, the county superintendent may audit the expenditures and internal controls of community college districts he or she determines to be fiscally accountable. The county superintendent shall report his or her findings and recommendation to the governing board of the district.

(b)The governing board shall, no later than 15 days after receipt of the report made under this section, notify the county superintendent of schools of its proposed actions on his or her recommendation. Upon review of the governing board report, the county superintendent, at his or her discretion, may revoke the authority for the district to be fiscally accountable pursuant to Section 85266.

§ 85238

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 27. Effective October 7, 2005.

If the order is disapproved by the county superintendent of schools, it shall be returned to the governing board of the community college district, except as otherwise provided in this code for the registration of warrants, with a statement of his or her reasons for disapproving the order.

§ 85239

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 28. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)The county auditor may examine each order and requisition on community college district funds transmitted by the county superintendent of schools. If the county auditor allows the order and requisition, he or she shall endorse thereon “examined and allowed,” and shall date, number, and sign it, whereupon it shall become a warrant on the county treasurer. The county auditor shall detach any bill attached to the requisition, and shall number the bill, giving it the same number given to the warrant, and file it in his or her office. The county auditor shall thereupon return the order, requisition, and warrant to the county superintendent of schools, who shall transmit it to the governing board of the district for issuance to the payee or to the order of the payee.

(b)(1) Any requisition of the county superintendent of schools, whether based upon written order of the governing board of a community college district or authorized by law, shall constitute full authority for the signature for allowance thereof by the county auditor as a warrant on the county treasurer, and no other authority shall be necessary or required for that action by the county auditor.

(2)“Requisition,” as used in this section, includes any order or demand signed by the county superintendent of schools directing the county auditor to draw his or her warrant on the county treasurer.

§ 85239.1

Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 573, Sec. 74. (SB 800) Effective January 1, 2018.

The county auditor may authorize the destruction of any bill or supporting document received from a school district for purposes of Section 85239 if all of the following conditions are met:

(a)The record, paper, or document is photographed, microphotographed, or reproduced on film of a type approved for permanent photographic records by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(b)The device used to reproduce such record, paper, or document on film is one which accurately reproduces the original thereof in all details.

(c)The photographs, microphotographs, or other reproductions on film are placed in conveniently accessible files and provision is made for preserving, examining, and using the same.

§ 85240

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 29. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)In lieu of drawing a warrant as provided in Section 85239, the county auditor may, with the approval of the governing board of the community college district, endorse, date, and number the order and requisition, and may prepare a separate warrant on the county treasurer for the same amount as the order and requisition. The warrant shall show that it had been drawn on the order of a community college district, shall name the community college district, and shall show the payee and date of issue, as well as other information deemed appropriate by the county auditor.

(b)The county auditor shall draw the separate warrant by signing it, and no other signature shall be required. Thereupon, the county auditor shall transmit the separate warrant to the county superintendent of schools, who shall transmit it to the governing board of the district for issuance to the payee or to the order of the payee, or, with the approval of the governing board of the district, shall transmit it to the payee.

(c)The order and requisition may direct the transfer of the amount of the separate warrant from the funds of the district to a clearing fund in the county treasury, which shall be known as the Schools Commercial Revolving Fund, to the end that separate warrants for all districts may be drawn against a single revolving fund.

§ 85241

Amended by Stats. 1979, Ch. 797.

The governing board of any community college district may, with the approval of the county auditor and county treasurer, in lieu of issuing single orders for the payment of the salary or wages of each employee, issue payroll orders, on forms prescribed by the county superintendent of schools for the payment of the salaries or wages of two or more employees. Payroll orders may be drawn only for the payment of salaries and wages of employees, and shall constitute requisitions on the county auditor and warrants on the county treasurer when approved and signed by the county superintendent of schools and allowed and signed by the county auditor, respectively.

§ 85242

Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.

Each payroll order drawn pursuant to this article shall be drawn, approved, and issued in the same manner and shall contain the same minimum content as prescribed for single orders. Each payroll order shall list the names of all employees in whose favor the order is drawn and shall state the amount of money due each.

§ 85243

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 30. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)The county superintendent of schools shall keep, open to the inspection of the public, a register of warrants, showing the fund upon which the requisitions have been drawn, the number, in whose favor, and for what purpose they were drawn.

(b)The county superintendent of schools shall prescribe rules for community college districts determined to be fiscally accountable, pursuant to Section 85266, that retain copies of warrants and supporting documents within the district files.

§ 85244

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 31. Effective October 7, 2005.

(a)Orders for the payment of wages and payroll orders for the payment of wages of employees employed full time in positions that are not academic positions shall be drawn twice during each calendar month on days designated in advance by the governing board of each community college district to which this section is made applicable. Labor performed between the 1st and 15th days, inclusive, of any calendar month shall be paid for between the 16th and 26th day of the month during which the labor was performed, and labor performed between the 16th and the last day, inclusive, of any calendar month, shall be paid for between the 1st and 10th day of the following month.

(b)The governing board of each community college district that has 5,000 or more full-time equivalent students (FTES), and the governing board of each district with less than 5,000 FTES in a county with a population in excess of 4,000,000 persons as determined by the 1960 federal census, shall make this section applicable to the board, whenever a majority of the employees of the district employed full time in positions that are not academic positions petition the board in writing to do so.

(c)The governing board of a community college district that has less than 5,000 FTES, other than a community college district situated in a county with a population in excess of 4,000,000 persons as determined by the 1960 federal census, may, on the petition in writing of a majority of the employees of the district employed full time in positions that are not academic positions, make this section applicable to the board.