District of Columbia v. Petty

Citations

• 229 U.S. 593
• 33 S. Ct. 881
• 57 L. Ed. 1343
• 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2472

Syllabus

<p>Sureties on the official bond of a public officer are not, in the absence of statutory provisions, responsible for his failure to account for moneys received and held by him extra-officially and not specified in the bond.</p> <p>Moneys received by the Commissioner of the District of Columbia from citizens for street improvements under the permit system were not public moneys in any legal sense, but funds of private citizens held extra-officially by the public officers.</p> <p>Prior to the making of the order of June 13, 1888, establishing the Permit Fund there was no law, rule or regulation making the Auditor of the District of Columbia accountable for public moneys, nor is there anything in that order or in the act of March 3, 1891, e. 246, imposing responsibility on the Auditor for faults of the disbursing clerk provided for therein or of the pay clerk referred to in said order.</p>