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Show W7 uMni?u VPJ fe3 jurors and all witnesses in criminal cases, institute suits to recover all moneys unlaw- THE fully paid by the county; upon request, aid in the presecution or defense of workmens compensation suits, collect property of deceased from justice of the the peace and the costs of inquests from the estate of the deceased, prosecute military offenses, institute proceedings for a bond to keep the peace and prosecute the violation thereof, and is the legal adviser of the state engineer on matters in his county. r i t t - . 1 i i i , f . s SETII s r 5. : I 1 I , i BARTELL j. L aawifc ar term. The duties of the county commissioners include the responsibility for all county affairs in general and the supervision of all county officers and departments. They must approve and may revise the budget of any county department. They serve as a legislative body in appropriating funds for the various county functions. The commissioners are the body, determining the necessary county property tax levy each year. They also license and regulate businand recreation in the esses, exhibitions four-yea- taii mO r tax-levyi- county. In supervising all departments of county government it is their responsibility to approve the hiring of personnel in each department. They approve and sign all payrolls, bills and claims against the county and t 1. t WM. WALTON Tlie board of county commissioners in the counties of Utah consists of three elected at large by voters in the county. A measure of continuity is provided for the board by the biennial election of one term and two commissioner for a two-ye- for a MARION HAZLETON approve necessary purchases over a certain designated amount which may vary in different counties. They adopt and approve the budget each year and set the levy needed to meet the current years expense. Commissioners sit as a Board of Equalization each spring to hear and adjust complaints about taxes and exemptions. owned by the county is the direct responsibility of the Commissioners and any maintenance and construction involving the county must be approved by All property them. As a legislative body they make and pass all laws and ordinances within the county which are not federal, state or municipal in nature. In addition to these general duties, the commissioners personally supervise such departments as Fire, Road Recreation, Planning, Welfare, Health, Exhibits and special districts that may be set up to provide extra or special services for any given area or the whole county. made for marriage licenses, are made and forwarded monthly to the Utah State Department of Health and Vital Statistics. As Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, board meetings must be attended whenever the commission meets and in addition to the minutes of the meeting the clerk must follow through many of the suggestions and decisions coming from these meetings. These matters are recorded in the Commissioners minute and ordinance book. The clerk also handles disabled veterans tax exemptions, widows, disabled veterans and blind exemptions. Salt Lake, Weber and Utah Counties are the only counties having a separate Auditor. In all other counties this position is held by the county clerk. The auditor of a county must examine and approve all claims against the county. Claims are reported to the board of county commissioners with the approval or disapproval of the county auditor. It is the duty of the auditor to draw warrants on the treasurer for the payment of all approved claims against the county. He also keeps accounts of receipts and disbursements for all departments of the county. A monthly accounting examination by the auditor of all departments is required. When it is found that the books of a department are not being kept according to law it is his responsibility to report that fact to the county commission. Utah law requires that each county publish an annual financial report in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The county auditor Is the budget officer of the county. In that capacity he receives annual budget estimates from each of the departments and prepares a tentative budget for the approval of the board of county commissioners, JTie board reviews the tentative budget and formally adopts a budget for the county for the following year. After a budget is formulated and adopted, the auditor supervises the execution of the budget by seeing that all warrants drawn on the treasury are within the limits of the budget. The auditor submits a monthly report to the commissioner of the financial standing of each county department in relation to the budget of that department. In the administration of county property taxes, the county auditor or deputy calculates the annual taxes due from each property owner and charges the treasurer with the collection of this amount. If a property becomes five years delinquent in taxes assessed to it, the county auditor takes a tax deed to that property and holds it for the county until the property i3 sold by the board of county commissioners. -- ADA PALMER TIIE COUNTY CLERK AND AUDITOR The county clerk is the purchasing agent in most counties and has the responsibility of negotiating for the purchase of or contract for all supplies and materials required by the county in all of its departments and to keep a complete record of all purchases. As the election officer he must conduct all elections pertaining to the county, state and national elections. This involves getting polling places and conducting schools for registration agents and judges of election. His office is responsible for providing ballots and election supplies, handling all absentee voting and preparing lists of official registers for election districts. The county clerk must also issue marriage licenses and prepare passport applications for those traveling overseas. Beer licenses and building permits are also issued through the clerks office. The clerk must keep a financial record of all his receipts, bank deposits and disbursements, including fines, clerks fees, state fees, court costs, etc. The clerks office handles minutes of the court in the various departments presided over by a district judge of civil, criminal and probate court matter. Notices are mailed to attorneys in all trial cases. The clerk or his deputies qualify all jurors used and make payrolls for them. All court papers are on file in the clerks office and must be indexed and entered in their proper registers and dockets. The numerous duties herein require a segregation of motions and orders to show cause so that they will be put on the proper court calendar. The clerk formulates and types all minute entries of the court, submits them for the approval of the judges and then a deputy enters them on separate entry sheets to be placed in the separate files. All court orders and decrees are processed for microfilming. When appeals are made to the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, these have to be prepared and forwarded to the State Capitol Building. .MARIAN BAYLES : I LEONARD WRIGHT 3 .1 Innumerable legal papers are certified each year such as: Civil Decrees, Executions, Writs, Voting Certificates, Marriage Licenses, etc. Each year a new jury list must be prepared and new veniries for each quarter of the court. The cleik also keeps tract of court exhibits. A record of all Notary Commissions is kept on file. Such matters as estates of deceased persons, guardianship, incompetents and adoptions are filed and handled by the clerks office. This involves sending notices and keeping probate records. Transcripts of blood tests, required when application is , . THE COUNTY SHERIFF County Sheriffs and their appointed deputies are responsible for the preservation of the Peace of the county. They cooperate with the State Highway Patrol and with the police forces of the municipalities within the county. The sheriff is required to attend in person or by deputy all sessions of district court held within the county. The Sheriff or his deputies take charge of and keep the county jail and the prisoners therein. He receives and safely keeps all persons duly committed to his custody and must file and preserve all commitments by which persons are committed, and keep a record of each person. He is required to make arrests of law violators. Legal processes and notices are recorded, served and returns made on same by county sheriffs. He is fire warden for the county. Fires occurring on public domain within the county must be extinguished by the sheriff. Burning permits outside the city limits are issued by the sheriff. He can command the aid of as many male inhabitants of his county as he may think necessary in the execution of his duties. The sheriff of the county in which a criminal is sentenced to confinement in the state prison, or is sentenced to death, shall cause such convict to be removed from the county jail and conveyed to the state prison and delivered to the warden thereof. In the case of a death sentence the sheriff has charge of carrying out the execution of such person or persons as are sentenced to death. He has charge of the safekeeping of all county property. He is the keeper of the court house and its grounds. The sheriff is the only other authorized person, besides a doctor or coroner, who can sign a death certificate. He is in charge of inspecting buildings that are being constructed in the county and seeing that a building permit is obtained by such persons. He also must investigate such things as: plane, boat, mine and gunshot wound accidents. Along with his many official duties and responsibilities there enters such other matters as: settling family feuds, delivering emergency messages, providing emergency taxi service, transpor-tatin- g patients to and from hospitals in Provo, Salt Lake, Ogden, Shiprock, Farmington etc., making emergency blood shuttles and he has even been known to do baby sitting and plumbing work. Know your county government. Know your County Sheriff, hes here to help YOU. receipts of taxes remaining unpajd at 12: M on 30th of November of each year until she has prepared a delinquent tax list for publication. All delinquent taxes are subject to a penalty of 2 per cent of the amount of the taxes, and the amount of the taxes and penalty bear interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum from the 1st day of January following the date of delinquency until paid. In addition costs and fees for advertising must be paid and other services rendei-ebefore title to the property is cleared of the tax lien. There is a redemption period of four years on delinquent taxes. Immediately after the close of this redemption period if , any property remains unredeemed or unassigned, the tax sale record for the year of the original sale is filed with the county auditor who advertises the property for sale at public auction. The county treasurer pays to the treasurer of each city, town, school district and other taxing units in the county, at regular intervals, all moneys in her hands collected for and due them; their proportionate share of delinquent taxes, interest, penalty and costs of all tax sales and redemptions therefrom, and makes a final settlement with the different taxing units on the last day of March of each year. The treasurer also acts as deputy county assessor in making up the current tax rolls and as deputy county auditor in the computation of taxes. d RALPH BURTENSHAW THE COUNTY ASSESSOR The determination of the valuations of real and presonal property in the county is the primary duty of the county assessor. The properties of public utilities such as railroad, power, telephone, and gas companies, are assessed by the State Tax Commission. By law, property in Utah is to be assessed for taxes by calculating forty per cent of the reasonable fair cash value. In recent years local real estate assessments have been based on 1940 values. Therefore, the assessed values of property locally assessed average only a little more than 20 per cent of actual current selling prices of the property. Surveys have indicated that there is a wide variation in the rates at which property is assessed for taxes in Utah. Property valuations by county assessors are subject to review by county boards of equalization and by the State Tax Commission. F. BENNION REDD THE COUNTY ATTORNEY The office of county attorney is created by express constitutional provision, and his statutory duties cover the whole range of governmental activities in the county. He must cause the arrest of and prosecute in the justices court all public offenders in the county and assist the district attorney in his prosecution in the district court. He must represent the interests of juveniles charged with delinquency in the juvenile court, represent the state in juvenile custody cases and prosecute persons charged in the juvenile court with contributing to the delinquency of minors; he must approve or reject all claims for juror fees and fees for witnesses in criminal cases; he must defend all actions against the county and prosecute for the county all actions for debt, fines, penalties and for forfeitures; he must give his opinion to all county, district and precinct offices and must give receipts and account monthly for all moneys and property received by him in his official capacity. He is the official advisor of the Board of County Commissioners and must pass on all claims against the county. He must forward to the district attorney the transcript of all examinations before a justice of the peace of persons charged with felony and held for the district court with a list of the witnesses for the state and a statement of the facts. He must institute suits to recover all forfeitures by the county treasurer. He must appear and represent the child in cases for the annulment of an adoption. No warrant for the arrest of any person shall be issued by a justice of the peace except on his approval. He must institute proceedings to enforce the banking laws, institute bastardy proceedings and examine the woman in the presence of the defendant, prosecute violations of the blue sky laws, and in all cases where foul play is suspected, he must receive the death certificate and investigate the bodies and circumstances of death and make recommendations on whether an inquest should be held; he must be served with summons in all divorce cases charging permanent insanity and must investigate the merits of the case and defend the rights of the person so charged, and witness the drawing of the names of all trial and grand jurors. He must prosecute the violation of election laws, laws requiring campaign statements, and the corrupt practice act. He must examine and certify the fees of all Other Statutory duties devolving on the assessor make him, under certain circumstances, a member of the county board of canvassers, and he is required to assemble information for the state department of publicity and industrial development, as successor to the former bureau of immigration, labor and statistics. Also business licenses outside the incorporated areas and the Motor Vehicle license plates are sold from the assessors office. The County assessor must ascertain the names of all taxable inhabitants and all property in the county subject to taxation, and must assess such property to the person by whom it was owned or claimed, or in whose possession or control it was, at 12 oclock m. of the first day of January. To aid in the orderly process of assessing and collecting taxes, the law provides that the county assessor must complete the assessment work indicated above before the 15th day of April of each year. However, at any time during the year the assessor must: (1) assess property liable to taxation that was brought into the county from another county of this state at any time after the first day of Jan., when such property has not been assessed for that year. (2) assess any property he may discover to have (3) assess livestock escaped assessment. brought into this state to be grazed, ranged or fed for a portion of the year, in excess of thirty days or taken out of the state for a similiar purpose for a portion of the year. THE COUNTY TREASURER Receive all the money belonging to the county and all other money by law directed to be paid to her, safely keep the same, and apply and pay out and render an account thereof as required by law. Keep an account of the receipts and expenditures or all such money in books provided for the purpose, in which must be entered the amount, the time when, from whom, and on what account any money was received by her; the amount, time when, to whom, and on what account all disbursements were made by her. In May of each year she must furnish to each taxpayer, by mail or personally, a notice of the kind and valuation of property assessed to him; also a notice of the days fixed by the county board of equalization for hearing complaints. In September of each year a notice must be seqt to each taxpayer and must show the amount of tax assessed against him, which shall set out the total amount of taxes to be paid, for state, county, city, town and school purposes, etc. The tax notice must set out separately all taxes levied on "a certain .kind or class of property for a special purpose, such a3 bounty tax or a tax for tubercular indemnity purposes, and shall have printed or stamped thereon the rate of taxation for each purpose for which taxes have been levied; when and where payable; the date such taxes will be delinquent and the penalty which the law provides for failure to pay the taxes within the time required by law. The treasurer must stamp on each tax notice Sold for a Prior tax" in each instance where the property in question has been sold for a tax and has not been redeemed from such sale. The treasurer closes her office for the i ARVILLA WARREN THE COUNTY RECORDER When a man acquires title to property, to protect that title he must record his deed and also the inevitable mortgage. From this basic necessity springs the whole tax structure. Once a deed is on record, it shows how much land is owned; approximately how much was paid for it, and many other statistics. From this knowledge the assessor can assess, and the treasurer collect the taxes which are so necessary to the operation of cities, counties and stiles. Notice that this whole operation begins with the recorder. The accuracy of the public record is thus the cornerstone of the whole structure of the government. The duties of the recorder include the accurate abstracting, indexing, filing, photographing, and platting of every document presented for recording. Among these are: Filed Documents Chattel Mortgages and Releases, Conditional Sales Contract, Federal Tax Lien, Cemetery Lists of Property, Bill of Sale, Severance Agreement, Tax Deeds, Original Maps and Plats, Legal Subdivisions. Recorded Documents Land Patent, Warranty Deed Special Deeds, Mortgage, Release of Mortgage, Sheriffs Deed, Certificate of Sale, Affidavit & Death Certificate, Notice of Interest, Installment Note, Protective Convenant & Agreements, Ordinances, Notice of Location, Proof of Labor, B. L. M. Decisions, Requests of Notice, Decree, Court Older, Writ of Attachment, Assignments, Waiver of Tax Lien, Bishops Certificate, Dr. Certificates, Military Papers, Certificate of Approp. of Water, Uniform Real Estate Contract, Notice of Lien and Releases, Easements, Leases, Restricted Covenants, Power of Attorney, Revocation of Power of Attorney, Judgment of Condemnation, Notice of Attachment, Indentures, Lis Pendans, Official Bonds, Options, Declaration of Homestead, Land Purchase Contracts, Agreements, Cert, of Ownership and Merger, Unit Agreement, Lease Farmout, Ratification & Joinder, Change of Depository, Inventions. The entire operation is kept in such a way that any document is easily found in the record books. The new result is a set of plat books which show the ownership changes for the county for the year; and either photostats or cards showing the same changes, on which the assessor and treasure base their assessment and collection of taxes. In summary while the recorders office cannot claim to be the most important cog in the machine, it can say that it is the first one in the system, and all others are dependent upon its accuracy and completeness; and that inter-offic- e cooperation is an essential consideration in the recorders mind. |
