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The Southampton County Treasurer’s Office received its accreditation from the Treasurers’ Association of Virginia on June 22.

The office is led by Treasurer Cynthia J. Edwards.

“I am pleased to have received full accreditation in the Southampton County Treasurer’s Office,” Edwards said. “We work hard to best serve the citizens of the county; and, that means continuing education and staying abreast of the ever-changing laws and regulations imposed by the commonwealth of Virginia.”

A press release from the TAV stated that the office accreditation program is a voluntary professional certificate program overseen by the Treasurers’ Association of Virginia. Seventy-one treasurer’s offices received accreditation this year.

While it is not required for any treasurer’s office to be accredited, receiving accreditation acknowledges that the office meets the statewide best practices for performance in treasury management. 

As part of the accreditation process, offices must successfully pass an outside audit with no findings of material weakness. 

The rigorous accreditation process also requires proof of continuing education, such as attendance of an ethics course by the treasurer, or a principal officer, and educational requirements for all staff. Accredited offices are required to have written policies in place addressing areas such as personnel, customer service and delinquent collections.

“These offices have met the highest standards of excellence and integrity measured by our association,” Treasurers’ Association President Jeff Shafer said. “We are proud of the 71 offices which received accreditation this year and the hard work and dedication it took for each of them to demonstrate excellence in fiscal management.”