Warrant (Checks)

"Warrants" are checks issued by the Office of State Finance (OSF).  Warrants are printed on-site by the OUHSC Accounts Payable (AP) Section.

Warrant Copies

Upon special request by a payee or department, AP will provide copies of redeemed warrants.  If you need a copy of a warrant, you can either contact the AP Section directly at 271-2410 or send an email request to AP-Processing@net.ou.edu

Forged Warrants

If the payee's signature is forged on a State warrant, there is an Office of the State Treasurer (OST) form that must be executed by AP in order to have a duplicate warrant issued. AP will email the required form to the departmental contact requesting the warrant re-issue. The department is responsible for forwarding the form to the payee obtaining the required signature and other related information (i.e., payee address and telephone number). Once the original completed form is received back in AP, it takes approximately 4-5 weeks for the warrant to be re-issued by OSF.

Warrant Cancellations

Warrants are automatically canceled by statute 90 days after issuance.  If the warrant was paid from an OSF 700 fund (i.e., PeopleSoft funds AGENC, CLNOP, CLNSP, INSLN, MISCA, SUAUX, RSTUL and 00701), the issuing Org will be given credit for the statutory cancellation with e-mail notification of such cancellation sent to the departmental contact, voucher creator and voucher approver.  The chartfield spread used on the payment will be credited for the cancellation.  Cancellations are processed once a month. 

If the warrant was paid from the OSF 290 fund (i.e., PeopleSoft funds EDWCH and STATE) or the 430 fund (i.e., FEDLN, HSPRM, MISCD, RSOKC, SPNSR and SP490), credit for the cancelled warrant reverts to OSF.  Therefore, the payments are not cancelled in the OUHSC accounting system.  However, warrants cancelled by statute can be subsequently re-issued from OSF’s cancelled warrant fund for settlement of the obligation.  Requests to re-issue warrants from OSF’s cancelled warrant fund should be directed to AP. 

If a warrant needs to be canceled within 90 days of issuance and you have the warrant in-hand, please send the warrant to AP in the Service Center Building (SCB), Room 218, with a note requesting the warrant be canceled. Regardless of OSF funds used, credit will be given back to the PeopleSoft chartfield spread used on the payment.  If you do not have the check in-hand, please refer to the Warrant Stop Payment procedures immediately below.

Warrant Stop Payments

Warrants that have been lost in-transit, destroyed or damaged that need to be replaced require a “stop payment” action.  OST assesses a $15.00 fee for each stop payment request processed by that office.  Financial Services passes this charge on to the department. 

For a “stop payment” request, the department must submit a request in writing to AP via emailing the AP-Processing group, faxing to 271-3981 or routing through campus mail to SCB 218.  In most cases, the “stop payment” fee will be charged to the same chartfield spread from which the payment was issued.  If the payment was issued from SPNSR or SP490 PeopleSoft funds, the fees must be charged to an alternate chartfield spread since this type of fee is not allowable on sponsored program funds.   An alternate chartfield spread is required to be provided at the time the “stop payment” request is submitted to AP to process.  For other PeopleSoft funds, a department can opt to charge the $15.00 fee to an alternate chartfield spread by providing that information at the time of submitting the “stop payment” request.

Occasionally, vendors contact AP directly regarding warrants that are damaged in the mail or not received.  In these instances, AP notifies the issuing department regarding the “stop payment” request.  This provides the department with an opportunity to use an alternate chartfield spread for payment of the “stop payment” fee.

If a warrant has a stop payment issued on an OSF 700 fund (i.e., PeopleSoft funds AGENC, CLNOP, CLNSP, INSLN, MISCA,  RSTUL, SUAUX and 00701), the chartfield spread used on the payment will not be given credit for the amount of the original warrant until after the 90 days statutory cancellation period has lapsed.  Since non-700 funds do not receive credit for statutory cancellations, it is imperative that you request the cancellation in a timely manner to enable the warrant cancellation to be processed through OSF within the 90 day cancellation period (assuming you have the check in-hand).

Warrant Reissues

Warrants that were cancelled by statute or had a “stop payment” issued that were paid with OSF 290 or 430 funds can be reissued by submitting a request in writing via emailing the AP-Processing group, faxing to AP at 271-3981 or routing through campus mail to SCB 218.  AP will send an affidavit to the department that needs be forwarded to the payee for signature and notarization.  The original form must be returned to AP for processing.  A warrant will subsequently be reissued by OSF and sent to AP for distribution.  It normally takes several weeks to receive the re-issued warrant. 

Warrants that have been cancelled by statute or had a “stop payment” issued that were paid with an OSF 700 fund that need to be reissued require new voucher processing.  The department must enter a new voucher payment request into PeopleSoft  indicating “RP” (for reprocess) at the end of the original invoice number also noting in the voucher comments that the payment is “ replacing a voucher (provide original voucher/warrant number) that was cancelled by statute”.  A copy of the back-up documentation submitted with the original payment request must be sent to AP at the time of re-processing.

In situations where a warrant has not been cancelled by statute but needs to be re-issued and the original warrant is not available, a “stop payment” request must be completed and submitted to AP before a replacement warrant can be re-issued.  Please refer to the above Warrant Stop Payment procedures in conjunction with the Warrant Re-issue procedures.  Please keep in mind that if the original warrant was issued from an OSF 700 fund and a “stop payment” action was taken immediately followed-up by entering a replacement voucher, the Org budget will be decremented (i.e., reduced) for both payments until the warrant cancels by statute.  A Stop Payment Request does not cancel the warrant - it only prevents the warrant from being honored if subsequently presented for payment.