Well, since the county is having to ask the state treasurer to move the money, it seems that the decision must not be within the authority of the county.  As far as why the state would use a national bank for deposits... well, they were probably chasing a higher rate of return.  Given the rampant greed and ignorance of recent years, I guess we should be surprised only that the state did not lose the money gambling in auction rate securities, CDOs, or some other fancy investment!