Eligibility. To be eligible to hold the office of clerk, collector, or treasurer of any common-school district a person must be a resident of the district and qualified to vote at its meetings and must also be able to read and write. Women possessing the above qualifications are eligible to these offices the same as men. These officers are prohibited from holding the office of trustee. If a person holding one of the above offices should accept the office of trustee, he would vacate the office held at the time he accepted the office of trustee.

Term of Office. The term of office of clerk, collector, or treasurer is one year, and in a new district the term of office of these officers elected at the first meeting expires on the thirtyfirst day of July succeeding the date of such meeting and the date of the annual meeting.

Election. These officers must be elected by ballot at the annual meeting in the same manner that trustees are elected, and that is described fully in the chapter on trustees under the heading "Election.”

Notice of Election.- If any person elected to the office of clerk, collector, or treasurer should be present at the meeting at which such election occurred, his presence at such meeting is considered sufficient notice of his election. The clerk of the district, or the person acting as clerk, should immediately notify in writing the persons elected to these offices, of their election, and unless a written refusal to serve is filed by such persons within five days from the date on which they received notice of such election, they are deemed to have accepted the office to which they were elected.

Penalty for Refusing to Serve.— Any qualified person elected or appointed to the office of clerk, collector, or treasurer, who files a refusal to serve, forfeits $5; and any such person elected or appointed to any such offices, who does not file a refusal to serve, but who neglects or refuses to perform the duties of the office to which he was chosen, forfeits $10 and vacates the office. Bar to Recovery of Penalty. Whenever a person elected to the office of clerk, collector, or treasurer shall file with the district superintendent having jurisdiction his resignation of such office and the district superintendent shall accept it and shall file such resignation and his acceptance thereof with the district clerk, such action is a bar to the recovery of any penalty for refusal to serve.

Vacancies. 1. A collector or treasurer vacates his office by not executing, as required by law, a bond to the trustees, and where these offices become vacant for this or any other cause, or where there is a vacancy in the office of district clerk, such vacancies may be supplied by appointment by the trustees of the district. The persons appointed to fill these vacancies may serve in such offices until the next annual meeting of the district and until other officers are elected and assume their duties.

2. Such officers may resign at a district meeting. They may also file a resignation with the district superintendent. If such officer approves the same in writing and files the resignation and his approval with the district clerk the officer is deemed to have resigned.

Filing and Notice of Appointment.- Whenever an appointment to fill a vacancy in the office of the clerk, collector, or treasurer is made by the trustees of a district, such trustees should immediately file such appointment with the district clerk, who should immediately notify the person appointed of his appointment.

Removal from Office. For sufficient reasons the Commissioner of Education may remove a clerk, collector, or treasurer from office. The proceedings are the same as in the removal of a

trustee.

CLERK

Duties.-1. The clerk should keep a correct record of the proceedings of all district meetings, and record in a book pro

vided for that purpose by the district a copy of all reports of the trustees to the district superintendent.

2. He should give notice as required by law of all special meetings called by the trustee, and give notice also of the annual meeting. When the office of trustee is vacant, it is the duty of the clerk to call special meetings. He should also give notice of adjourned meetings as required by law.

3. He should immediately, upon the election or appointment of any district officer, notify such officer of his election or appointment, and should also report the names and addresses of such officers to the town clerk of the town in which the schoolhouse of the district for which such officers are chosen, is located. For a failure to file such notice, a penalty of $5 may be imposed for each and every such neglect.

4. He should notify trustees of every resignation filed by the district superintendent.

5. He is required to preserve all records, books, and papers belonging to his office and to deliver them to his successor in office. For a refusal or neglect to do this he is subject to a fine of $50 for the benefit of the district, which fine is to be recovered by the trustee.

6. Whenever a school district is dissolved he should deposit the records, books, and papers of such district in the town clerk's office, as required by the order of the district superintendent.

7. When required to do so by the board of trustees, he should attend their meetings and keep a record of the proceedings of such meetings in a book provided for that purpose.

8. He is also required by law to keep all books and papers of the district that are in his possession open to the inspection at all reasonable hours of any qualified voter in the district, and to permit such voter to make copies of any such papers or records. 9. He is required to notify the county treasurer of the name and address of the persons elected as district treasurer and collector.

COLLECTOR

Bond. Before receiving a warrant for the collection of taxes, a collector should execute and deliver to the trustees a bond with one or more sureties and in a sum fixed by the district, or when the district fails to fix an amount, in such sum as the trus

tees shall name.

The trustees upon approving such bond should file it with the town clerk of the town in which the district is

located.

* Duties. It is the duty of the collector to collect the taxes included in any tax-list for the district when directed to do so in the warrant of the trustees of the district; if the district has a qualified treasurer, to pay the taxes collected to such treasurer, and if the district has no treasurer, to disburse the money collected upon the order of the trustee of the district.

The trustee of any district which has not a treasurer may direct that the collector of such district shall disburse the school moneys apportioned to the district by the State for the payment of teachers.

After a collector executes a bond to the trustees, with two or more sureties approved by them for double the amount of the sum last apportioned to the district, such collector may receive from the supervisor of the town the moneys in his hands belonging to the district and applicable to the payment of the salaries of teachers. The collector should then disburse such money The bond should be approved by upon the order of the trustees. the trustees and filed in the office of the town clerk.

Penalty for Neglect of Duty.- A collector is responsible to the district for any loss it meets through his negligence in failing to collect any tax which might have been collected within the limit prescribed by the warrant.

Fee. A collector is entitled to a fee of one per cent on all moneys voluntarily paid to him within thirty days from the date on which he gives notice that a tax-list has been issued, and on all moneys paid after that time he is entitled to five per cent. (See section 426.)

*The warrant of trustees, return of collector, and all matters pertaining to the collection of taxes is treated fully in the chapter on "School-District Taxes."

TREASURER

Determination of District to Elect Treasurer. The qualified voters of a district may decide by a majority vote at any annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, to elect a treasurer of the district. Upon such determination, the district meeting may proceed to elect by ballot a treasurer, who may hold such office until the next annual meeting or until a successor is chosen and has qualified.

Treasurer's Bond. Within ten days after his notice of election, the treasurer should execute and deliver to the trustees of the district a bond in the sum fixed by the annual meeting or such sum as the trustees require, which should be at least double the amount of money such treasurer will receive, with at least two sureties approved by the trustees. When the bond is properly executed and approved by the trustees in writing, it should be filed with the district clerk.

Duties of Treasurer. The treasurer is the custodian of all moneys belonging to the district.

After the treasurer has qualified by executing his bond, the trustees should pay to such treasurer all moneys of the district in their possession derived from any source whatever.

The collector of the district should pay over to the treasurer all moneys collected by him under any tax-list and warrant issued by the trustees.

The treasurer is also authorized to receive and has power to demand and receive from the supervisor of the town in which his school district is located, all money in such supervisor's hands and belonging to such district.

The treasurer is to disburse the money held by him and belonging to the district, upon the order of the trustees of the district. The treasurer must also report to the trustees, when they require, it, the condition of the treasury, and must also make a detailed report at the annual meeting covering all business transacted by him for the district during the year.