(2) An accountable officer is not liable for acts of God or the public enemy.

(3) Neither lack of fault nor negligence affects an accountable officer’s legal liability. It may provide a basis for granting relief from the obligation to repay the amount of the loss or erroneous payment.

(b) Proving Due Care.
(1) The loss of funds entrusted to an accountable officer raises a rebuttable presumption of negligence. The accountable officer bears the burden of affirmatively proving the use of the requisite degree of care. The reasonable care standard does not vary with age or experience.

(2) Regulations dictate the accountable officer’s actions in most instances. Failure to follow the regulations will result in a finding of negligence and a denial of relief if the negligence caused the loss.

(3) If there are no regulations governing the specific actions of the accountable officer, the Comptroller will apply a reasonable person standard. That is, did the accountable officer do what a reasonably prudent and careful person would have done to take care of the person’s

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4 Guam Code Ann. PUBLIC OFFICERS & EMPLOYEES CH. 14 ACCOUNTABILITY OF DISBURSING AND CERTIFYING OFFICERS

own funds or property of like description under like circumstances? Mere agency determination that an accountable officer is faultless is insufficient. There must be sufficient evidence included in the request for relief for the Comptroller to independently make the same determination as the agency.

(c) Standard of Care Required of a Supervisor. The supervisor must maintain a system of controls to prevent losses and erroneous payments and take steps to ensure that controls are implemented. The supervisor must substantiate these facts. The errors of a subordinate are not the errors of the supervisor if controls are in place to prevent mistakes. However, entrusting funds to an inexperienced or incapable employee may make the supervisor equally liable for the loss.
(d) A disbursing officer is entitled to rely on information from a certifying officer:

(1) which the disbursing officer has no way of knowing is incorrect;

(2) unless the disbursing officer has reasonable doubts as to the correctness of the facts on or attached to the voucher.

(e) An accountable officer must make adequate efforts to collect any erroneous payments. Within three (3) months, the debt must be sent to the collection department or the Comptroller may deny relief. Authority to deny relief based on lack of adequate collection efforts is discretionary, not mandatory.

(1) The Comptroller is required to look to the collection regulations.

(2) Generally, a single letter to a debtor is not sufficient to show an attempt at collection.