Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 2011 )

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT
February 7, 2011
The Honorable Royce West Opinion No. GA-0842
Chair, Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations Re: Whether a local civil service commission may
Texas State Senate impose a fee for an applicant to take a fire
Post Office Box 12068 department promotional civil service examination
Austin, Texas 78711-2068 (RQ-0912-GA)
Dear Senator West:
You ask whether a local civil service commission may impose a fee for an applicant to take
a fire department promotional civil service examination. l
A civil service commission must "provide for open, competitive, and free entrance
examinations to provide eligibility lists for beginning positions in the fire and police departments."
TEX. Loc. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 143.025(a) (West 2008) (emphasis added). Promotional
examinations are "open to each fire fighter who at any time has continuously held for at least two
years a position in the classification that is immediately below, in salary, the classification for which
the examination is to be held." [d. § 143.030(b). You ask whether a civil service commission may
charge a fee for a fire department promotional examination. Request Letter at 2.
Unlike the case with entrance examinations, chapter 143 does not specify that a promotional
examination shall be "free." Nevertheless, the absence of any statutory authority to impose a fee in
this case precludes a commission from doing so because a local civil service commission "is not
vested with the expansive authority of a home-rule city." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0586 (2007)
at 2. Therefore, a commission "has only such powers as are expressly granted to it by statute
together with those necessarily implied from the authority conferred or duties imposed." Stauffer
v. City of San Antonio, 344 S.w.2d 158, 160 (Tex. 1961).
A court "will generally not imply authority to impose a fee, and as such, a public entity other
than a home-rule city may not charge a fee unless that fee is specifically authorized by law." Tex.
Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0735 (2009) at2; see Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. GA-0544 (2007) at4 (a court
strictly construes a statute imposing a fee and will not imply authority to impose a fee) (citing Moore
IRequest Letter (available at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov).
The Honorable Royce West - Page 2 (GA-0842)
v. Sheppard, 192 S.w.2d 559,561 (Tex. 1946), DM-22 (1991) at I (public entity other than home-
rule city may charge fee only when specifically authorized by law, and not by implication»; accord
Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. JM-345 (1985) at 3, H-647 (1975) at 2, WW-1482 (1962) at 3.
Because a civil service commission lacks express statutory authority to impose a fee for an
applicant to take a fire department civil service promotional examination, we conclude that a
commission may not impose such a fee.
The Honorable Royce West - Page 3 (GA-0842)
SUMMARY
Because a civil service commission lacks express statutory
authority to impose a fee for an applicant to take a fire department
civil service promotional examination, a civil service commission
may not impose such a fee.
Very truly yours,
DANIEL T. HODGE
First Assistant Attorney General
DAVID J. SCHENCK
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
NANCY S. FULLER
Chair, Opinion Committee
Rick Gilpin I
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee