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Texas Payroll/Personnel Resource

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General Provisions
Availability and Delivery of Payroll Warrants

State agencies with at least one officer or employee who is paid on a payroll warrant issued by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (Comptroller’s office) must comply with the requirements in this document.

Comptroller’s Office Responsibility for Availability of Warrants

Payroll warrants prepared by the Comptroller's office must be available for pickup by state agencies no later than the first workday after the Comptroller’s office finishes preparing the warrant. Warrants can be picked up before payday if the agency has a bailment agreement on file with the Comptroller’s office.

The Comptroller’s office may determine the place where the warrant can be picked up and, if the agency is not located in Austin, Texas, may mail the warrant to the agency at an address designated by the agency.

Agency Responsibilities for Delivery of Payroll Warrants

The Comptroller’s office is prohibited from paying the salary of a state officer or employee before the pay date established by law. To assist in ensuring compliance with this requirement, state law prohibits a state agency from delivering the payroll warrant to a state officer or employee before payday.

Bailment contracts for pre-payday warrant pickup

Because the Comptroller’s office recognizes agencies may need to arrange to have payroll warrants available in remote locations on payday, the Comptroller’s office has agreed to enter into bailment contracts with state agencies that permit the agencies to pick up the agency’s payroll warrants before payday on condition that the warrants are only delivered to employees on payday.

The bailment agreement specifically prohibits the agency from delivering a payroll warrant to an employee before payday. If the agency knows an employee will not be in the office on payday, the agency is permitted to mail the warrant to the employee but must ensure that the employee does not receive the warrant before payday.

Consequences of not complying with the bailment contract

An agency may authorize an agency employee to take any actions for the distribution of payroll warrants the agency is authorized to do under the bailment contract. However, the agency is responsible for any loss or damage caused by the employee’s failure to comply with the bailment contract. An agency is required to take necessary disciplinary action against an employee who violates the bailment agreement.

If a warrant is presented for payment to a bank or the Comptroller’s Treasury Division before payday, the bailment contract is violated.

The Treasury Division is not authorized to honor a warrant before payday — the warrant will not be paid and will be returned to the agency. The agency that violated the bailment contract will be contacted and advised of the infraction. Penalties for violation of the bailment contract include:

  • The inability to enter into a subsequent bailment contract.
  • The limitation that warrants may not be picked up by the agency before payday.

Additional Resources

For more information on the bailment contract, see the Bailment Contract section of TexPayment Resource.