Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1981 )

The Attorney General of Texas
September 10, 1981
MARKWHITE
Attorney General
Honorable C. Michael Ederer Opinion No. MN-366
Delta County Attorney
Delta County Courthouse Re: Whether salary grievance
Cooper, Texas 75432 committee under.article 3912k,
V.T.C.S., may grant a raise in
excess of the amount requested
Dear Mr. Ederer:
You have asked for our opinion regarding the power of a salary
grievance committee to grant a pay raise that is larger than the
amount that was requested by the officer who applied for the increase.
The statutory provision that is controlling in this situation is
section 2 of article 3912k. V.T.C.S.
You state that in accordance with subsection 2(d) of the above
provision the sheriff of Delta County requested in writing that he be
given a fifteen percent increase in his salary. Such a written
request is required by the second sentence of subsection 2(d), which
states that "[tlhe request shall be in writing, shall state the manner
in which he is aggrieved...." You indicate that all nine members of
the salary grievarice committee signed the recommendation that the
sheriff be paid a salary of $1,000 a month. This iatter figure is in
excess of the pay increase the sheriff would have received if his
request for a fifteen percent increase had been granted. The last
sentence of subsection 2(d) states that in the circumstance when all
nine members of the comittee sign the recommendation for a salary
increase the r&Z becomes effective without action of the
commissioners court on the first day of the month following its
delivery to the latter body. In light of the facts, the only question
that needs to be resolved in the situation that concerns you is
whether the grievance committee was empowered to grant a raise that
was in excess of the written request. If it was possessed of this
authority, the sheriff is owed the increase in salary from the first
day of the month following the delivery to the commissioners court of
the recommendation signed by all nine members of the committee.
The language in subsection 2(d) that must be construed in order
to answer your question is that part of the provision that authorizes
the committee to grant au officer a raise during the course of the
fiscal year. The relevant portion is the following:
p. 1224
C. Nichnel Ederer - Page 2 (MW-366)
If, after a hearing, the committee by a vote of
six of its voting members decides to recommend a
change in the salary, expenses. or other allowance
of the person requesting the hearing, it shall
prepare its recommendation in writing and deliver
it to the commissioners court, which shall
consider the recommendation at its next meeting.
(Emphasis added).
This language empowers the committee to "recommend a change" and
places no restriction on the committee's determination as to what such
a change should be. The statute does not establish a specific limit
beyond which the grievance committee cannot go. Since subsection 2(d)
is devoid of any technical language or words that have a special legal
meaning, we believe the committee is free to make a recommendation
that an officer receive a pay increase that is larger than the amount
that was asked for in his or her written reauest. As Justice
Frankfurter stated in Addison v. Holly Hill Fruit 'Products,Inc., 322
U.S. 607, 618 (1944):
...legislation when not expressed in technical
terms is addressed to the common run of men and is
therefore to be understood according to the sense
of the thing, as the ordinary man has a right to
rely on ordinary words addressed to him.
We believe the members of the grievance committee had a right to rely
on the language of subsection 2(d) and to recommend a change in the
sheriff's salary that was greater than the pay raise he asked for in
his written request.
We note that the last sentence of subsection 2(d) was intended as
an exception to the language that precedes it. The fact that this
exception was applicable to the situation that interests you does not
alter the committee's power to give a pay raise that is larger than
the one requested. The exception, which deals with the unanimous
recommendation of the committee, does not mention any type of limit on
the amount of raise that all nine members can recommend.
SUMMARY
Pursuant to the authority vested in it by
section 2 of article 3912k, V.T.C.S., a county's
salary grievance committee has the power to grant
a pay raise that is larger than the amount that
was requested by the officer who applied for the
increase.
p. 1225
C. Michael Ederer - Page 3 (NW-366)
MARK WHITE
Attorney General of Texas
JOHN W. FAINTER, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General
RICHARD E. GRAY III
Executive Assistant Attorney General
Prepared by Walter Davis
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Susan L. Garrison, Chairman
Jon Bible
Rick Gilpin
Walter Davis
Jim Hoellinger
p. 1226