Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1958 )

,.. .i >~ i’ . ,.~. Honorable John R. Coffee Onlnlon No. WW-370 County Attorney Howard County Re: Whether the Commis- Big Spring, Texas sioners' Court has the authority to con- tract with a person or firm to maintain Dear Mr. Coffee:: the County Courthouse. You have requested our opinion as to whether the Commissioners' Courthas the authority to contract with a person or a firm for the maintenance of the Howard County Courthouse. You state that such firm or person would hire and fire their own employees for the maintenance and re- pair of the Howard County Courthouse, and the contracting person or firm alone would be responsible to the Commls- sioners' Court. Article 2351, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides in part as follows: "Each commissioners court shall: “7. Provide and keep In repair courthouses, jails and all necessary public buildings." In construing the powers and duties of the Commis- sioners' Court, the courts of this State have said: "The Constitution does not confer ‘on the commissioners courts 'general authority over the county business' and such courts can exercise only such powers as the Consti- tution itself or the statutes have 'specifi- cally conferred upon them.' . . . While the commissioners courts have a broad discretion in exercising powers expressly conferred on them, nevertheless the legal basis for any action by any such court must be,ultimatelx : found in the Constitutionor the statutes. Canales v. Laughlih~3,;::147 Tex.~leg, 214 S.W.2d Honorable John R. Coffee, Page 2 (w-3'0) 451 (1948). Article 2351c, Vernon's Civil Statute?. provides that in counties having a population of more..Ithan 500,000 the Commissioners' Court may designate a building superln- tendent who shall appoint all necessary employees subject to confirmation by the Commissioners' Court. The Article further provldes,that the Court shall have the right to discharge any such employees at any time for cause, How- ever, this Article is not applicable to your situation since the County does not have a population of over 500,000, but even this Article provides that the Commissioners' Court shall have the ultimate right to discharge any em- ployee for cause. This Article by implication provides that there can be no delegation of the right to hire and fire janitorial employees. It has been held in Attorney General's Opinions No. O-2444 (1940) and No. 0-6085 (1944) that the Commls- sioners' Court has the authority to employ and discharge Cou&house janitors, elevator operators and similar em- ployees. Therefore, In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the CommissionersI Court has no authority to delegate the maintenance of the County Courthouse to any individual or firm. SUMMARY The Commissioners' Court has no authority to delegate the maintenance of the County Courthouse to any individual Honorable John R. Coffee, Page 3 (w-370) or firm. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas Llnward Shivers Assistant IS : pfk warn APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman Cecil C. Rotsch J. Mark McLaughlin J. Milton Richardson John H. Mlnton, Jr. RRVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. V. Geppert