Article 3. Duplicate Warrants of California Government Code >> Division 3. >> Title 3. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 3.

If any warrant issued by the county auditor is lost or destroyed before it is paid by the treasurer, the amount due may be recovered by the legal owner or custodian by filing with the auditor or his or her designee an affidavit setting forth the fact of the loss or destruction of the warrant, the number, date, amount, and name of the payee, and all material facts relative to its loss or destruction. The legal owner or custodian is entitled to file this affidavit at any time prior to the time the warrant becomes void.

Upon the filing of the affidavit, the auditor shall issue and deliver to the legal owner or custodian a duplicate warrant for the full amount of the original warrant, or for any lesser amount still due if any portion of the amount for which the warrant was drawn has been paid, and the treasurer shall pay the duplicate in lieu of the original warrant. If a warrant is lost or destroyed after it has been received by a bank with whom the treasurer has entered into a written agreement pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 53630) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 for the deposit in that bank of moneys belonging to or in the custody of the treasurer, the treasurer may pay on a photocopy of the lost or destroyed warrant in lieu of the original warrant; provided the bank agrees to indemnify and hold the county harmless from any loss incurred by reason of that payment.

If the duplicate warrant is not presented for payment to the county treasurer within the time within which the original warrant could have been presented for payment it is void.

A warrant is considered lost if it has been mailed and has not been received by the addressee within 20 days after the date of mailing or within a shorter period of time as the board of supervisors may by ordinance establish.

(a) To the extent permitted by federal law and notwithstanding Article 3 (commencing with Section 29850) of Chapter 5 of Division 3 of Title 3 of the Government Code, a public assistance warrant, which has been lost, stolen, destroyed, or lost in the mail, shall be replaced by the county. Prior to replacing the warrant the legal owner or custodian shall comply with either paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), whichever is applicable:
  (1) Wait five working days, or a lesser period if permitted by the county, from the date that the warrant was mailed in cases where the warrant has been lost in the mail. After the waiting period the warrant shall be deemed to be lost and the legal owner or custodian shall be entitled to file an affidavit of the loss in the mail with the county. The affidavit shall contain information relative to the loss of the warrant in the mail, including the number, date, amount, and name of the payee of the warrant. The county shall assist the legal owner or custodian of the warrant in completing the affidavit.
  (2) If the warrant was not lost in the mail, an affidavit may be filed immediately with the county. The affidavit shall contain information relative to the loss, theft, or destruction of the warrant, including the number, date, amount, and the name of the payee of the warrant. The county shall assist the legal owner or the custodian of the warrant in the completion of the affidavit.
  (b) When the affidavit has been signed by the legal owner or custodian of the warrant, the county shall issue a replacement warrant as soon as possible to ensure that the needs of the family continue to be met, but no later than five working days from the date that the affidavit has been signed and filed with the county.
  (c) If the legal owner or custodian of the original warrant has moved from the county that issued the original warrant, and it has been lost, destroyed, stolen, or lost in the mail, the legal owner or the custodian of the warrant shall be entitled to file his or her affidavit for a replacement warrant with the county to which he or she has moved, and that county shall, within one working day, mail the affidavit to the county which issued the original warrant that an affidavit has been received. The county which issued the original warrant shall issue a replacement warrant immediately, but no later than five working days from the date that the county receives the affidavit that has been filed with the county to which the legal owner or custodian of the original warrant has moved.
  (d) If a legal owner or custodian receives an original public assistance warrant subsequent to the receipt of a replacement warrant, the legal owner or custodian shall return the original warrant to the county.
  (e) The department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, the County Auditors Association, and the Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, shall develop a statewide intercounty lost warrant replacement affidavit, or revise the existing form, for the purpose of implementing this section.

The auditor and treasurer shall each make the proper entries on their respective books, showing that the warrant is lost or destroyed and that a duplicate warrant has been issued.