How a State-Run Bullion Depository Works

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What state-run actually means

State-run means a state government owns the depository as a public agency, sets its rules by statute, and holds audit authority over its operations. The vault sits inside a state office, not inside a private corporation. Legal ownership of the mission rests with the state, not shareholders.

A single practical detail follows from that ownership. When something goes wrong, the depositor deals with a state office that answers to voters. When a private vault fails, the depositor deals with a private company that answers to owners or lenders. The chain of accountability is different, even if the daily service looks similar.

A state-run depository still contracts out the physical work. Building a vault, staffing a customer service line, and processing shipments are private-sector functions in almost every model. The state hires a contractor to do this. The state keeps rulemaking, oversight, and audit authority in-house.

Why only one exists in the United States today

Only Texas has stood up a state-run bullion depository so far. The reason is partly practical and partly political. A state has to write a specific enabling statute, appropriate startup funds or approve a public-private contracting model, and identify an operator willing to build to state security standards. Few state legislatures have done this work.

Texas passed its enabling law in 2015. Utah, Arizona, and several other states have debated similar bills over the past decade without setting up a live facility. Some have passed legal-tender or sales-tax legislation on gold and silver that treats bullion favorably. That is a different policy question than physically standing up a state agency vault.

For a reader looking at the category today, the practical universe is small. The Texas Bullion Depository is the working example. Everything else is either a private depository, a bank vault, or a proposal that has not been built. Comparing state-run versus private is really comparing Leander to the private options.

The Texas law that created the state agency

The legal foundation is House Bill 483, filed during the 84th regular session of the Texas Legislature. Representative Giovanni Capriglione carried the bill in the Texas House. Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law on June 12, 2015. The statute authorized the Comptroller of Public Accounts to establish and administer a state precious-metals depository.

The bill did more than authorize a building. It created a state agency inside the Comptroller's office, a formal chain of command, and rulemaking authority over depository operations. That structure is what a private depository, by definition, cannot match. A private vault can be well run, but it is not a state agency.

Construction and operator selection took about two years after the signing. The Texas Bullion Depository opened at its Leander campus in 2017. Lone Star Tangible Assets LP was selected as the depository contractor through a state procurement process. Operations have run continuously since then.

Who really opens the vault each morning

Two entities share the workload. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts owns the state agency and holds oversight authority. The Depository Administrator, an appointed position, is the state official responsible for the depository inside the Comptroller's office. In 2026 the Depository Administrator is Macy Douglas, per the state's live directory.

Lone Star Tangible Assets LP is the private operator. Its staff answers the customer service line, receives and inspects deposits, runs the vault floor, ships outbound orders, and manages the physical building. LSTA is a Texas-based holding company in the precious-metals industry and includes the United States Gold Bureau among its operating subsidiaries.

The 2026 leadership picture also includes Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock at the top of the office. The Comptroller is the elected official at the head of the parent agency and holds the ultimate state authority over the depository. Personnel change over time; the state structure that governs the vault does not.

The three audit layers that separate state-run from private

The single most concrete difference between state-run and private is the audit architecture. A private vault typically has one annual auditor of its choice. The Texas Bullion Depository, per its own governance page, has three layers of audit that run at different tempos and with different reporters.

1. Layer one: internal audit by the operator. Lone Star Tangible Assets LP manages the vault and audits its own operations continuously. Under its state contract, the operator provides daily reports to the Depository Administrator inside the Comptroller's office.
2. Layer two: state audit through the Comptroller's office. The Depository Administrator and the internal audit team of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts hold the right to audit the depository at any time. They also conduct regular audits of assets held on site.
3. Layer three: third-party independent accounting firm. The depository is audited by a third-party accounting firm on a regular basis. This is a separate audit trail that neither the operator nor the Comptroller controls end to end.

The purpose of layered audits is not to catch a single missed count. It is to make undetected drift over time much harder. Layer one runs continuously. Layer two runs at state discretion. Layer three runs on a public-facing cadence. A depositor gets to see three sets of eyes on the same inventory, not one.

Published pricing as a public-record oversight signal

Governance shows up in small places. A state-run depository publishes its non-IRA fee schedule on a public website, along with the effective date and the calculation method. That is not a marketing courtesy. It is a state office documenting its rate schedule for the record.

The Texas Bullion Depository schedule effective April 1, 2026 uses a flat-rate model, where one rate based on the account's average daily value applies to the entire holdings. Fees accrue daily and are billed once per quarter. There is a 25 dollar quarterly minimum. IRA storage is priced separately through the self-directed IRA custodian and the depository contractor.

Reading a schedule as an oversight signal is a small lift for readers. A published, dated, and calculation-explained schedule is easier to challenge if the operator drifts from it. A private depository under a private contract can and often does keep pricing behind a sales conversation. State-run does not.

How the federal non-bank trustee rule connects a state-run depository to IRAs

Federal law is precise on who can hold Individual Retirement Account assets. Internal Revenue Code Section 408(a)(2) requires the trustee or custodian of an IRA to be a bank or an entity approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a non-bank trustee. Treasury Regulation 26 CFR 1.408-2(e) sets the criteria a non-bank entity must meet to receive that approval.

Before 2023, the Texas Bullion Depository operator did not have that status. IRA metal could not sit at Leander. Personal and institutional accounts worked; IRA accounts did not. The gap sat with the federal approval, not with the state agency status.

In 2023, Lone Star Tangible Assets LP received the Internal Revenue Service approval as a non-bank trustee under Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e). That single administrative approval unlocked the IRA channel. The state agency status of the depository was not touched. The operator earned the federal status the same way any other non-bank entity does.

How IRA metal reaches the state depository today

The mechanics after the 2023 approval are straightforward. A self-directed IRA custodian coordinates with Lone Star Tangible Assets LP as the depository contractor. Equity Trust Company is the first self-directed IRA custodian named on the depository's IRA storage page. Additional custodians are being added over time, per the depository.

For the account holder the flow is familiar. Open a self-directed IRA with the custodian, fund it by rollover or transfer or contribution, direct the custodian to buy approved bullion from a dealer, and instruct that the metal ship to the depository in Leander. The custodian holds the account title. The depository holds the physical metal.

Fees for IRA storage at the depository are negotiated between the custodian, the dealer, and the depository contractor, per the depository's own IRA page. The published non-IRA schedule does not automatically apply. A reader should ask the custodian and the dealer for the specific IRA storage rate before signing paperwork.

Insurance is a private-market layer, not a state guarantee

Insurance on stored metal at the Texas Bullion Depository is underwritten on the Lloyd's of London market. Coverage applies once a deposit has been received, inspected, and accepted at Leander. Base metal content is covered automatically; a depositor can declare a higher value for numismatic pieces with a premium above metal content.

The state does not guarantee the assets. That distinction matters. If a covered loss event occurs, the private insurance policy is what pays out, not the Texas Treasury. State-run refers to ownership, audits, and rulemaking authority, not to a state-funded insurance backstop.

Two other insurance points are common in the industry and worth naming. Transit insurance on the way into the depository is the depositor's responsibility, not the depository's. Outbound shipments are insured by the depository up to the declared value. This inbound-outbound split is standard for high-value shipments and is not unique to state-run facilities.

Texas residency, no state income tax, and the depository choice

Texas does not levy a state personal income tax. That prohibition is anchored in Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, which requires a statewide vote to authorize any such tax. For a Texas resident, IRA distributions in retirement are taxed at the federal level only. Storing metal at Leander does not add or remove that treatment.

The state tax picture follows the resident, not the vault. A Texas resident whose gold IRA is stored at a Delaware depository still pays federal tax only on distributions. A California resident who stores gold IRA metal at Leander still owes California income tax on distributions. The vault location is not a tax planning tool.

Genuine reasons to choose a state-run depository are different and worth naming plainly. State audit oversight through the Comptroller is one. Physical proximity to Leander for a scheduled Customer Room viewing is another, especially for readers along the Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas corridors. Support for a Texas public institution is a third. None of these are tax reasons.

Estimate the long-term drag from recurring storage fees

Storage is one line in the recurring cost of holding physical bullion inside a retirement account. Custodian administration fees, wire fees, and dealer markup at purchase also matter. The calculator below lets you model the effect of recurring fees on your account over a chosen holding period.

Treat the output as a planning tool, not personalized advice. It captures ongoing storage and administration drag but does not include dealer markup at purchase or dealer bid-ask spreads at sale.

Worked example: a Houston retiree weighs the two structures

When a state-run depository is not the right choice

Frequently asked questions

By the Harry’s Coins Editorial team. Last reviewed June 2026.