A Guide to the Virginia Office of the Second Auditor - Transfer books for the Board of Public Works, 1824-1921 (bulk 1832-1884)
Virginia. Office of the Second Auditor. Transfer books for the Board of Public Works, 1824-1921 (bulk 1832-1884)
SAI 74
Virginia Office of the Second Auditor. Transfer books for the Board of Public Works, 1824-1921 (bulk 1832-1884). Accession
SAI 74, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
The history of the second auditor's office began in 1823 when the office was created by the General Assembly as part of an
act to improve the navigation of the James and Kanawha rivers. Under the act, the second auditor was given responsibility
for the Fund for Internal Improvements and for acting as secretary to the Board of Public Works. He was also appointed clerk
and accountant to the directors of the Literary Fund. An act passed in 1829 made him the superintendent of the fund, and he
assumed the responsibilities formerly held by the president and directors. In 1835 an act authorized the commissioners of
the newly created Sinking Fund to redeem the state's debt, and the second auditor was appointed a commissioner with the responsibility,
together with the state treasurer, for keeping the accounts of this fund.
Prior to the Civil War, the duties of the second auditor were fairly simple and straightforward, as were the duties of the
treasurer. After the war, however, the devastation of the state's economy resulted in the creation of more numerous and complicated
records concerning the redemption of the state debt. The office of the second auditor suffered from inadequate procedures
for maintaining accurate records on the state's finances. By 1874, neither office had a complete or accurate account of the
public debt, and between 1874 and 1877 major scandals were disclosed involving both offices and that of the sergeant at arms
of the House of Delegates. Although a complete revision of the accounting methods used by both financial offices, especially
the second auditor's, was called for, only minor changes were made.
In 1906 a legislative committee made periodic inspections of the finance offices. Finding that the situation in the second
auditor's office remained almost as chaotic as it had been in 1874, the committee recommended that the office be abolished
and its duties taken over by the first auditor. Although the committee's recommendations were not followed, its members continued
to call for reform. Action was taken only after the election of Governor Harry F. Byrd, Sr., in 1926. Byrd hired a group of
consultants from New York to study the finance offices, and the resulting report brought about a complete reorganization of
state government in 1928. The offices of first and second auditor were abolished and replaced by a newly created office of
comptroller. The second auditor's office closed its books on February 29, 1928.
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