Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1945 )

880 OFFICE OF THE Al-l-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN GROVER SELLERS ATTORNLY GENER,.,. Honorable 0. tier1 HUtohFnga County Auditor Young county Graham, Texas Dear sir: . I. eohool held aounty, or pay the the deputlee of eeseor-Colleotor as notaries pub- r8 or xay 21, 19k5, nt on the rollow- ly aLlow the aherirr oar to attend a school B. I. et Wiohita Falls? sea or the county allow a Deputy Sheriff the or expense of attending euoh school ted by, or under the superrision or %. Can thenexpense of the Deputies of the Taz daaesror-Collector qualirying a8 Zotariee be charged 88 expense 0r orricev lionorableQ. Xarl Hutohings, page 2 It,ir stated in Texas Jurisprudenoe, Vol. 11, pages 563-4-5, aa r0iiowa: "Counties, being oomponent parts of the state, have no power or dutiee except those which are olearly aet forth and defined in the Constitution and statutea, The statutes have alearly defined the powers, preeorlb?d the duties, and imposed the liabilities of the oommisrionere~ oourts, the medium through whloh the dirrerent counties aot, and rrOm these statutes mus't some all the authority vested in the counties. , . . Wommissionerst oourts are courts 0r llalted jurladiotion, in that their authorlty extends only to matters pertaining to the general welfare of their respective oountiee and that eaid powers are only those expressly or implledly oonterred upon them by~law, Wet i..it;ythe Constitution and statutes of the ." Subseotlon (b) of Artiole 3899, Vernon’e Annotated Civil Statutes, is in part as r0ima: * . .Where the automobile or automobiles are ow:ed by the Sheriff or his deputies, they ahall be allowed four (4) cents for eaoh mile traveled in the d.isohargeof offlaial business, which sum shall cover all expenses of the main- tenance, depreoiation, and operation of suoh automobile. Suoh mileage shall be reported and paid. 15 the safnemanner preearibed for other allowable expenses under the provisions of this eeotion. No autoinol&leshall be allowed for any Deputy Sheriff exoept those regularly employed in outaide work.. . ln The county offioials of Young County are oompenseted on an annual salary basis, and the roregoing provision or Subseotion (b), Art, 3899 is applicable to said oounty. Said Subseotion (b) of Art, 3899 also authorizes eaoh offiaer nained . 882 Honorable 0. aarl liutohinga, .pege 3 I5 the Aot,.where he reoelves 8 salary as oompenaation for hi8 aervioae, to purohaae or oherge to hi8 oounty all reason- able expense8 necessary in the proper andlegal conduot of his offloe, and such expenses are to be passed on, predeter- mined and allowed in the t&me and ernount,aa nearly 88 possible, by the ConunisslonerslCourt once eaoh month for the.ensuing:amnth, ~upon~.the~'~applloatlo5 by eaoh offioer, stating the kind, probable eaouat of expenditure and the nroerrity:.roo:threxpenses or hi8 offloe for auoh ensuing ~QQth,.~h~o``.~pplloationshall, before presentation to aald oourt., $$rqt;,bq endorsed by the county auditor, if any, otherwise the county treeadrer, only a8 to whether funds aroava~leble for payment.of``uch.~expenaes. .' O-5003 that This department held-in O~pinlon14.0. county fund8 could not be expended for the payment of the aherirt'a expenses in going to and from a aqhool in Waahlng- ton, D. C., sponsoring oertainDhaaeo.,of la5 enforcement.. In Opinion No. O-5382 thla department held that the Commissioners* Court of Smith County did not have legal .au- thority to eijend county ma8 to oov,ercost8 or qualirying oounty~eaployeea as notaries publio. We enclose copies of the'above mentioned opinlone~for~yoar'convenienoe. Subaeotion (b); Art. 3899;Boer hot authorize the payment of expenaes:~inourred-by:theaheriff'or'~hl8deputies in attending,8 school oonduoted by the y.'B;I, out of county funds, There is no atatute authorizing the expenditure of county ru8 to cover oosta or-qualifying deputies 0r the Tax Aasasaor~Colleoto~ a8 5otarlea publlo. It ia our opin- ion that allbf~ the ~questiqia atated above should be answered c in the negative, and-they are 80 aqawered, : '. -