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Title 32 — National GuardRelease 119-73

§708 Property and fiscal officers

Title 32 › Chapter CHAPTER 7— - SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT › § 708

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Governors, the Puerto Rico governor, leaders of Guam and the Virgin Islands, and the commanding general of the District of Columbia’s National Guard must pick a qualified commissioned officer from their National Guard to be the property and fiscal officer. They must do this with advice from the Chief of the National Guard Bureau and with approval from the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force. The officer must also be a commissioned member of the U.S. Army National Guard or the Air National Guard. If the officer is not on active duty, the President can order him to active duty if he agrees. The property and fiscal officer must keep and account for all U.S. funds and property the Guard holds and must send required reports to the Secretary. When the assignment ends, the officer goes back to being a regular Guard officer. The Secretaries will set a top rank for the job, no higher than colonel, and the Army and Air Force Secretaries must write joint rules to run the program. A property and fiscal officer may give money to another Guard officer to pay bills, but both are financially responsible and the agent can be punished for misuse the same way as the main officer.

Full Legal Text

Title 32, §708

National Guard — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Governor of each State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia, shall, in consultation with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, appoint, designate or detail, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, a qualified commissioned officer of the National Guard of that jurisdiction who is also a commissioned officer of the Army National Guard of the United States or the Air National Guard of the United States, as the case may be, to be the property and fiscal officer of that jurisdiction. If the officer is not on active duty, the President may order him to active duty, with his consent, to serve as a property and fiscal officer.
(b)Each property and fiscal officer shall—
(1)receipt and account for all funds and property of the United States in the possession of the National Guard for which he is property and fiscal officer; and
(2)make returns and reports concerning those funds and that property, as required by the Secretary concerned.
(c)When he ceases to hold that assignment, a property and fiscal officer resumes his status as an officer of the National Guard.
(d)The Secretaries shall prescribe a maximum grade, commensurate with the functions and responsibilities of the office, but not above colonel, for the property and fiscal officer of the United States for the National Guard of each State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
(e)The Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force shall prescribe joint regulations necessary to carry out subsections (a)–(d).
(f)A property and fiscal officer may intrust money to an officer of the National Guard to make disbursements as his agent. Both the officer to whom money is intrusted, and the property and disbursing officer intrusting the money to him, are pecuniarily responsible for that money to the United States. The agent officer is subject, for misconduct as an agent, to the liabilities and penalties prescribed by law in like cases for the property and fiscal officer for whom he is acting.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 708(a) 708(b) 708(c) 708(d) 708(e)32:49 (last sentence; and 2d sentence, less last 24 words).32:49 (3d and 4th sentences).32:49 (last 24 words of 2d sentence).32:49 (5th and 6th sentences).32:49 (last sentence, less 1st 18 words).
June 3, 1916, ch. 134, § 67 (last par.), 39 Stat. 200;
July 9, 1918, ch. 143, subch. III (last par.); restated
July 6, 1954, ch. 462, 58 Stat. 451.
June 3, 1924, ch. 244, § 5, 43 Stat. 365;
July 6, 1954, ch. 462, 68 Stat. 451. 708(f)32:49 (1st 18 words of last sentence). 708(g)32:50. In subsection (b)(1), the words “the duties of that assignment” are substituted for the words “his duties as property and fiscal officer”. The words “be required to” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (b)(2), the words “of the National Guard for which he is property and fiscal officer” are substituted for the words “of the National Guard or Air National Guard of the State, Territory, or District of Columbia”. In subsection (c), 32:49 (5th sentence) is omitted, since the officer concerned would be entitled, under section 201 of the Career Compensation Act of 1949 (37 U.S.C. 232), to the pay and allowances of the grade in which he is serving. In subsection (e), the words “The Secretaries shall prescribe” are substituted for the words “which

Rules and Regulations

shall establish”. The word “duties” is omitted as surplusage. In subsection (f), the words “rules and” and “the provisions of” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (g), the words “Under such

Regulations

as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Army” are omitted, since the Secretary has inherent authority to issue

Regulations

appropriate to exercising his statutory functions. The words “an officer” are substituted for the words “other officers”, since, under revised subsection (a), the property and fiscal officer is not required to be an officer of the National Guard. The words “accountable for public moneys” and “as agent” are omitted as surplusage.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2019—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–92 inserted “, in consultation with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau,” after “shall”. 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1057(b)(4), substituted “State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands” for “State or Territory and Puerto Rico”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–163, § 1057(b)(2), substituted “State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands” for “State or Territory, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia”. 1989—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–189 substituted “The Governor of each State or Territory and Puerto Rico” for “The governor of each State and Territory, Puerto Rico, and the Canal Zone”. 1988—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 100–456 struck out “the Canal Zone,” after “Puerto Rico,”. 1980—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–513 redesignated pars. (2) and (3) as (1) and (2), respectively. 1977—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–79, § 804(b)(1), (2), redesignated subsec. (e) as (d). Former subsec. (d), which authorized inspections at least once a year by Inspectors General of the departments concerned, was struck out. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 95–79, § 804(b)(2), (3), redesignated subsec. (f) as (e) and substituted “(d)” for “(e)”. Former subsec. (e) redesignated (d). Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 95–79, § 804(b)(2), redesignated subsecs. (f) and (g) as (e) and (f), respectively. 1972—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 92–310 repealed provisions which related to the bond required of property and fiscal officers.

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

32 U.S.C. § 708

Title 32 — National Guard

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73