No person shall make or approve payment for personnel services to any person in the service, unless the payroll voucher or account of the pay is certified by the director that the person being paid was employed in accordance with the Personnel Act.

History: 1953 Comp., § 5-4-39, enacted by Laws 1961, ch. 240, § 12.

Only concern of personnel department (personnel director) under this section is to certify whether the person shown on a payroll voucher is employed in accordance with the Personnel Act, and this would involve such matters as eligibility for the particular covered position at the particular salary shown on the payroll voucher. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

Certification authority applies only to positions covered under Personnel Act. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

The status and compensation of unclassified (exempt) employees is of no concern to the personnel department (personnel director), as its statutory authority is limited to the "service" defined in Subsection C of Section 10-9-3 NMSA 1978. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

Department of finance and administration corrects computation errors. — If an objection of the personnel office (personnel director) to a payroll voucher goes to errors in computation or something of like nature, it is for the department of finance and administration to see that such errors are corrected. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

Exemption questions determined by attorney general. — The department of finance and administration is to honor a payroll voucher so long as it meets that department's requirements, but if the personnel department is of the opinion that a position is not exempt from coverage under the Personnel Act, a legal question involving statutory interpretation arises, and the matter should be referred to the office of the attorney general for determination. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

Employing agency's determination of exemption prima facie correct. — When an employing agency employs a person to hold a position which is exempt from coverage under the Personnel Act and so notifies the personnel department (personnel director), the determination by the employing agency is to be considered as prima facie correct. 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-105.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 67 C.J.S. Officers and Public Employees § 238; 81A C.J.S. States § 86.