Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

tiFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Honorable A. M. Pribble County Attorney Kills County Goldthwaite, Texas Rear Sir: We we quote, in " 'Under Set of the County erviosr of musio Vernon's Annotated Givil Statutes, was enacte e Forty-seventh Legislature, regular Section 1 thereof fixes the sal- aries of th oeriutendencs, provides for the making of an annua 'provides ior~the appointments of as- sistants to the county superintendent. Section 2 of Article 2700.1 reads as follows: Honorable A. LL Pribble, page #2 "The County Superintendent of Public In- struction may, with the approval of the County Board OS Education, employ one ormore school supervisors to assist in planning, outlining, and supervising the work of the Public Free Schools in.the oounty which is under the super- vision of,the County Superintendent of Publio Instruction. Said supervisor or supervisors shall et all times work under the supervision and direction of the County Superintendent of i Publio Instruction, as other assistants are r.quired to do, and must have evidence of pro,- ficienoy in rural shoool supervision and must be the holder of at least a Bachelor o,fScience De- gree or higher,, Suoh supervisor nor supervisors I may reoeive-a salary of not to exoeed ,TwoThousand Dollars ($2,000) ,per'an&m, to be paid out,of the same funds and in the same manner as that.of the County~'Superintendentof Public Instruction and,other,a,ssi,stants.v- At the,outsetti sre confronted with'the~question whether Artiole'``2700~1is applioable~to``exoffici&+superin- tendents* If.;$t,~is',' we"think that,a ~musio supervisor ~coulU be employed under theprovisions of~Seotion.2.above quoted, for such provisions do not speoify.or limit.the type of snper- visor other tha,nto ,state,thathe will assist ia,planning, outlining, and,supervising the oounty'sohools;, We-believe that if the county ,sueerint~endent and countyboard, in ,the exeroise'of their,~di.sore~op,.,;ld$termine that's musio super- be -employedunder Seetion 2. visor is needed, ~one.:could .However,,,iemust first determine whether Artiole 2700.1 is applioable to.ex officio superintendents, Article 26&j .vernon's Annotated ~ivi.lStatutes, provides for theoffiqe of oountg'superintendent in,all oounties of ~300Q:,or more scholastics, 'andinqounties of a * less number upona vote ~of the qualified ,elaotors.' .~ Honorable A. ld.Pribble, page #3 r Artiole 2701, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, provides as follows: *In each county having no school superin- tendent, the oo*untyjudge shall be ex offioio county superintendent and shall perform all the duties required of the county superintendent in this chaoter. He shall give bond in the sum of Cne Thousand Dollars ($l,OOO), payable to and to be approved by the County Board of School Trus- tees of the -respectivecounties and conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties. The salary of the ex~'officioSuperintendents of Public _ Instruction in all counties in Texas shall be, from and after September 1, 1936, Apaidfrom the State and County Available School Fund. (As amend- ed Acts 1935 ,44t,h Leg., 2nd. C. S., p. 1732, oh. 447, Sec. l.jw Article 3888, Vernon's knnotated Civil Statutes, reads as follows: *In a~county where the County Judge aots as superintendent of pubMio.instruotion, he shall receive for such services such salary not to emaeed,Nine Hundred Dollars ($900) a year as the County Board.of Sahool Trustees of the respeot- ive countiesmay provide, The amount shall beg paid.inthe manner specified in Chapter 4%, Acts. of'the'r'qrty-first, Le islature Session (Art,*:27&%l-ly,.and in'G!~$%$l?cts of the Fort .-se&&d Legislature;Regular S&ion (Art. 2827a~7,.',(Asamended Acts~l935, 44th Leg., 2nd. C. S., p. 1732, ch. 447, Sec. 2.)" We see.that the County Judge -- ex officio super- intendent is charged with the performanceof~the.same duties as any other county superintendent; his salary for the per- formance of these duties is payable from the Available School Fund. .~ ,^. .Honorable A: M.'Pribble, page #4 As a general rule it may be that, beoause of the small'number of soholaatios in his oounty, the County Sudge-- ex orficio superintendent does not have to spend a great. amount or time in the performance of school duties. But i;: it is certainly conceivable that in some instances he may not have time to disoharge his duties properly. Likewise, the s~choolsin his county may require a certain trainingor supervision in order to supply something needed. Obviously, Article 2700.1 is Xmited to,,eleotivs county superintendents, as suoh, when it fixes their sa&- ries. However, that part of the Act (Section 2) providing for the employment of superv.isorsis not so limited, ana we do not feel that we oould read such a limitation fnto the Act. You ace, therefore, advised thatthe~ County Judge- ex officio school superintendent may, With ~the approval of the county board, employ a supervisor of~musio under Section 2 of Article 2700.k, proviaea; of course, such spp,ervisor possesses the qualifications ~set out in said article. Hi,s salary is to be paid snout of the same funds and in the same. ,~ manner" as that of the county superintendent. Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENE&, OF TEXAS By-55 /s/ George Yl. Sparks Asei~qtant Gws-e APPRO'@D SEP 23,``&942 This opinion oonsi- Gerald C. kiann dered and approved Attorney General of Texas in limited confer- enoe.