P.R. Laws tit. 2, § 195
The Secretary must indelibly mark each book distributed to the officials of Puerto Rico, excepting the Governor and the legislative officers, with the name of the office to which, and the official designation of the officer to whom sent. Such books remain the property of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and must be, by the officers receiving them, delivered to their successors, taking a receipt therefor and depositing such receipt with the Secretary of State. Whenever any such officer shall neglect or refuse to make delivery as aforesaid, his successor shall immediately report the case to the Secretary of State, sending him an inventory of the law books he has found in the office, and the outgoing officer shall be liable to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in an action to recover the value of any law book which may have not been delivered by said officer to his successor, or may not be found in the office if no delivery was made; which action shall, on request of the Secretary of State, be brought and prosecuted by the Secretary of Justice; Provided, That when said inventory is not forwarded by any new incumbent within a period of one month after his qualification, he shall, thereupon, become liable as hereinbefore stated, for any law book which is missing from his office.
In case that a law book furnished to an official of Puerto Rico, for public use, is lost or rendered useless by the action of time or in other way, the Secretary of State is hereby authorized to furnish another copy of the same book, if the stock thereof is not exhausted, to said official; Provided, That the Secretary of State must be informed of the cause of the loss or deterioration, with return of the book to his office in the latter case, and when the loss or deterioration of the book may be due to any negligence on the part of the officer in charge thereof, said officer shall be liable to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the extent and in the manner provided for in the preceding paragraph.
The Secretary of State is also hereby authorized to sell the surplus copies of said law books at such price per volume as to cover the unit cost of publication. The proceeds of the sale of said volumes shall be deposited monthly in the Commonwealth Treasury, notification thereof being at the same time given to the Secretary of the Treasury in the usual form.
History —Political Code, 1902, § 47; Apr. 13, 1916, No. 55, p. 109, § 2.