Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Joab Caqb.11
county IrttorIwp
Sohleioher County
61 Lh?radO, mxas
D6ar sirr
carefully ooluliaend by thi
your repue8t a8 followrt
work was oomplotd
Whhh th@ OOU't paid
egrw4 oo~nMtion.
l o lc r k wlm to p a w-
alo- at hi8 8pan tine en4
ith tha peranmmoe oi hi0
y ir on the ieel bade ry8tei6
lerk ir pai4 * ex-ofi ml.-
,.
"The County Clerk oonten48, m 600s hi8
attorney, that au& ooapenutlon we8 mid hi5
for aorvioer mn4ore4 the oounty out &da of
his offioial dutias, '1168 not a &WOpW ie6 Or
0fri0e and 8houl4 not bm eoootmt.4 for in ar-
riving at the enxioun teao mllorrod hip uader the
16%
Honorable Xoab.CaEpboll, Par~o 8
p.%ould the County irlwk of thla a@unty
aooount for awh oosqpent~tlon paid him, in ar-
riving et the saxlmum fesa allowed him unbar
the law? Was raid Coanlsaiormra Gmrt author-
ized to Eake such oontraiWw
hrtiolee 1941, 19&c, 1845, 3931 and 3938, Vernoa’a
wnoteted Texas Civil Statutea, roe4 80 follqur:
-Art. 1941. mcordsra
whey shall be cx-offlois rsoordera Sor.
their aereral oountlea, and aa maoh ah&l n*-
oord in mitabla book8 to be proourrd for that
ptupoaeall 4ab48, mortgama au4 other lnatr&
menta raptired or pomltte4 by law to ba re-
aosdedj they ahall be the keeper8 ci cuoh m-
eo r tl
b o o k s a,ndlfiell keep tho aama properly
lndarad, arrangm? en4 pftMWVa4."
"hrt. 1948. custody or reoor4a
-They shall be keapsra of the reoorda,
books, papera ant? prooeedfngs o? their napee-
t1va oottrta In oivil an4 ar$.aual oaaea an4 fn
Batten, Of grobate,an4 aae that the4 aam are
proporlp indoxe4, arm4504 au4 preaarv*4, aa4
shall F@ritWi auof: other 4utlOs an4 in that be-
half as may br by law imp~sr4 on them.”
"Art. 1945. Other Qookota, indersa, oto.
Tha olerk ahall keep mob other daekota,
books an4 imleraa aa my ti requkred by lauj
and all booka, reoor4~ and file4 pepore below-
irkg to the offios of county alarks o&all et p]Ll
reasonable thea be opan to tbo ins ~eotlon en6
exauiaation oi 6u oitiran, Iho aha P1 have tha
right to mke oop Psa of the ae``a,~
w.a%. 3921. County ol.srkr prsaonlng ro-
oordm
"At sash tern ot hi8 oourt the oouaty judge
ehell inquir* into Pad examIn* the uount of
labor actually aad nsowearilf parforme4by tie
Bonorsble Saab Ccmgbcll, Fai?,e
S
clcrb of hit oourt in the care end reacrve-
tfon of the rcoor4a of his offloe, f n making
and keepI% ncocccary indcxce thePet0, and
other labor of n llko olacs, end cllow said
olerk 8 reasonabla oo``msetloa thertrror, net
to wrgeed the fees ellowea him by law for like
aervioos, and mt to cxosed one hundred bol-
lera annually, to be raid out ot the county
treasury upon the aworn aocount of such clerk,
approved fn Writ& thcrcoo by the OOUllty buddy.”
*Art. 3938. County olerk: cx-~ffi.oio sore
loos
-For all cr-offiolo crrviooa In reletion
to rocdc, bridges ana ferries, iaauing jury
aorlgt , county warraate, an4 tati* rcca:pta
therefor, ccrviooa la habsac oorpua cceea, mck-
lng out bar dookotm, keeping rCOOrd8 of trust
funds, filing end docketing ell gaper8 for corn-
micc%onerc* hurt, keeping road overaecrc* books
cad list of henda, rsoording all oollcotion~ro-
turna o? dallnquent inaolrenta, reoar4ing oountt
trca)OBuP0r*a rcport8, rcooPdl~g reports or @a-
tioea OS the peaoe, reoordlnii ruportpc or anirala
slaughtered, and aervloss In coanrotfon with all
e~eotiona, and cl1 other publio services not
othsnSao provided for to be pf&lU u n tho order
at the Ooruiasianera * Court out at r he treasury,
tho county olerk shell reoalvs such sum as the
Commlssionsra~ Court m&p Qetemlns uuder the
provlslona of &-tlclc 3895, to be paid quarter-
ly. 50 oounty clerk Bhrll be oompcllmd to file
or moor4 any lna4mummt of writing porrPitte4
or mquircd by law to be rooordad until the ~wg-
sent or tendor of pr~ymcnt of all legal fro5 Sor
such f’i1.i~ OI rcoording has been made. Mthing
herein shall be held to include papcrc or in-
at uaente filed or moordad in mite gendlw
in the oouti6y aourt:~
twtlale 3930, Vtirnonlswmotctcd CivU %Itatutoa,
reed8 In port as iol.Wwa:
"::le*a of th6 oounty oourt ahall reoeivs
the f0110w1n& fear:
". . .
Ronomble Saab Carpball, Faga 4
*“tansoribing, ooaparing -6 verifying
reoord booke oi hia otfioa, payable out of tho
county tmemry upon warrant iaimed under the
order of the Gotmiaeionore* Court, for eeoh
1Or: worde. . . .lO.”
The oaee of Tarrant County la. Ropre, l&5 S.%.
898 (Sup. Ct. 15% &. 3. 1101 held that the Comlaeicnere~
Court had aa authority to pay the ooUnty clerk a oertaln
mm rw work in lndoxing reoorde, an4 bono8 the ommty woe
not baud by said a reeaent an4 oauld reoover iron the
clerk the amount pa ‘:Q hiPa for doing the work ln exoosa of
what it aotually ooet. %‘e quota from the oaurt’e opinion
in err14 oaae as rtalowe~
Ytte oourt fn Its main charge, with ref-
ereaoo to extra work done on the lnbaxoe, la-
etruoted the jury OF fatlower ‘You will ohargo
him (reaniug RogerrJ*Lththree-fourthe of
~7,576.78), the amount paid Fmgare by Tarrant
Countr for reinboxing &de, over qn4 lbeta the
lrpenaoe pai4 out b$ Rogrra tar thrt work. ‘Be
oxtn work refetrsd to Or tble oharise aeant the
work thet woe don. b{ R-era uader the dirootion
ol the ocee~iedoaere oourt upon the inboxor.
Thie work oonalete4 in plaoiag on the am-gin
of the rmporte oppoefte the dead8 80 r~orded
a brlet daeorlption of the ~roprrty aonrofrd
by the inetrmeat, 80 that a pareoa 4xamialng
the rewr4 4oulQ toll by Iookiacg at tb;le nota-
tion whether the lnet~rument to which it raPemod
oonroya4 the rapexty for whioh ha rae searahing.
I?elatl+o ta t it 18 work, Rodager8teatlfia4 that ho
wae lnrtrueted to 4~ It by tha omiaelonere’
court that ha ha4 never bean order dlnet-
lng h L to 40 the work; that But uy or, hle prude-
oeeeor, ha4 ocmmenoe4 the work; thet when he
went into the oliior the oomml8eionara direat-
04 him. tc 60 oa with it g that he flnlehed it
up ae direote4 by them, an4 pai4 out ror olerionl
aid in doing the work the cum of $%,OfS~ bhat he
kept the dlirfsmaoo betwean that osount and the
amount al&wad him by the ~omal#ei~ne~e’ Oatart
?or the same, whioh aewtmt80 kapt bg him wee
97,s&i.m, which he retslned 08 hi0 oompeneation
thsraior; that thaw wa8 an underetandiry between
r...L
2 .A<)
Honorable SoeC Can%pbell, Page 5
himelf and the oommleeionera that he we6 to have
five cent% for the entry of a&oh deearlption that
was mode on thle Index, 0136, at five cents for
eeoh 4eeorlptlon, eaie work amounted to the sum
of $13,587.75; that the amounta paid him by the
oounty for tatting there deearfptione on the in-
dex ware pa 3 d by warrant on the aouuty, drawn by
the aomalaeionere' court; thet he deolined to do
the work when first requested by the oormaieeion-
era, on the mtxml that it was going to mix up
the ofiioe work considerably, as it tack about
80 mm to do this extra work; and, further, that
he 414 not oare to do it, if they mre gooinr~ to
regard it as a part OS the dutlelr of the office,
and as a prt of the offiae ~eee; whereugctn the
oommireionere told his t&at they&d n6t sapeat
anything of thet kind, but to go ahead end rlnleh
It up a8 Butler h0e oosmen484 tt, m they did
not want it left inaompleta.
Wkppellant oootmbe that the oharge c;bove
referred to woe arroneoue, in that the work so
don4 by Rogers upon a614 Indexes woe not free of
offioe, and henoa the oounty woe entltlee to
recover af hlm the entire amuat, to wtt, #?,56&,
remaining after pa iag ror the la tua expense
l of
doing the work. & ia charge was evl4ently given
by the oourt upon the theory that the alerk woe
entitle4 to one-fourth of said sum ee offlelal
tees.
uAfter a careful examfnatlon of the etat-
utee reletiva .to the duties OS olapke am to
preservation ati. keegiag of the reoorde and
Indexing the name, we fail to finad any pmvi-
ston thereln requiring thus to make marginal
negtione or the 4eaer~ptlon of the lana ooavng-
ee by the inetrumnte reoorded, such aa was
eon6 in thie lnatanae, an4 hen06 oon01u4e that
the work done by wi4 olerkk while It may here
been a great oomenienoe to the publlo, et111
woe not euoh work ee Chk oonenieeioners ootiCr re-
quire him to do. 3t Charafma did not fall
withla thla, oategory. !?or 40 we think that
eppellee oauld rely, es ha un4ertakes to &a,
ugcn the oantreot mada with the oommjeeioners~
eaurt, 4~8 reaoww the whole or lg portion of
the balsnoe relmlning after e06uotiag tha 8x0
pensee for having ths work done, beoetue the ooa-
~i#aioners* aaurt had no authority, in our judg-
arnt, to make any auoh QOAttaOt With h&i (1116,
if without authority to do 80, the oounty wag
not bound by thslt aotlon in wdorteklng to m&b
a oontreot with hfn ior mob MtViOO. See Tar-
rant countrV. EMlar', 38 %3x. Cir. ripp. re1.
80 S.E. 666 6140 Ed1 County v. Felts at al,
lE.0 8. 57. l&66. x or i4 th e o o u nty
l4 to p p in
od
a ny mnnerrttn4tmaorting that midoonttaot wa8
uil6wti, 8tiar eo o verth fngreawnt 4 0 paid cut,
based thsreon. Bee Eeldwin 0. Travis County,
40 BIX. Mr. App. 149 BB 6. QJ. 4$0, and Tmlta
County Y. Blaokbuta, iO0 Pm, 51, 98 e;x. (UQ.’
‘:!'a quote from the oaee of Tarrant County T. Eutlec,
80 S.W. 666r
“xi the $u,oOO aLlowa appellee i;utler r0t
aaklng ln8eixo8, eta., during the lart flsoal
year or his tern, ommtituteu rest3or 0rfi00,
~ithln th4 meaning 0r the rm bsll, than, or
oouram, the oounty was mtltlead to hts thia
ftra oon8lasrad in datstmintng the uount of
OXOMB dua it. The rc4 bill rquir*r 'all r-8
oallootsd 8url6g the ri00ail. year* eta., to be
4ooounted for and rix08 a i~xlaum aplcunt or
tees or *all hnil#* rbiob may be retained. It
ir fnslrted, hcmevor, that the axtre rstvio~r
thus aompenrated were not orrlolal; that otmpen-
eatlon for &akiu& tha indexa@ wan a aatter purr-
ly or oonttwtual rl&ht. a*. do not think M. Aa
we ham oberroed, the Oonatitutfon omfsta gen-
em1 pow4rs upon thr Lo#irlaturs to Brerar:be the
duties or aounty oletke, sad bp rersrenor to Rev.
St. art. X43, end r0ii0+4g, It I4 apparent that
th0 bgi4latut4 h6e afku0 it tha duty or the 00wg
olarks to k8ep and prercroe the reoordtr 0r tholr
ol’fioes, and to keep praper lndoxms OS al1 NO-
srd8 thereof. 'ma duty ii0 r6rdy k69g ad
py4*4tVe tbs reoomls neomurrily oonfetr, the
right to 6xolude 6ll 00ik0rri0id4 rr05 Inter-
farsnoo themwlth. iha Oml4lf~sionet4' ooutt
would be without pcmt, wfthout eon4ent df tba
Hoaorable Joab Campbell, Fege 7
alerk, to authorize a attangor to taka posaeadoa
of the teootde and petiozm tho asrvloea oontemplated
In the work to whioh the oontraot oi’ the aoanllr-
aIonerst ,ooutt related. ‘Ihoduty to keep ana pre-
aarvo, the Index08 also neoeaaarlly Imp1108 the
duty to tranaarlbe, renew, or rake proper ln4exos
when neoetbaarp, a# ?xm allagod in eppellant’a pe-
tltloq and the ocapwmtlon thenror 404m4 to bare
been l x p temtl~ provided, 44 will be scan rtom the
follaIgg quotatloa rta artlole W57, Rev. St.
1.995, viz. ) *tra~sotiblng, oomparinfz and verify-
ing IWSYO``b00h 0r hIa orrioe, payable out or
the oounty tneauty upon warrants Irmad un8er
the order ai, tha owmIatdoa~m~ oourt, Wr eaoh
loo word4 ten a*ntn*, whioh saema not to barr
been eiieeted br the iea bill, aa will bo erl-
dont by an lnspaotlonor the trontq-sixthaeo-
tlon thereof, providing that laws not in oon-
f 110% with the aot are not arfrated. For’ eqht
that appearr, the &3,000 allcnwl appelles Butlot
tar making new fnaexar wan but the sum totei 0r
ha8 to whfoh ho ma6 retitled thmeior under ex-
1rtinS llra and the settlement indioatwl b the
order bmei``before referred to mounted Qni y to
the aaoettainmaat or this faot. But howevat this
was, wo think the $8,000 was orriolal rear), within
Ohs mwaing or the re4 bill, rot whioh 53utlot
should be taquiwd to eaoount.”
You et@ rsapsotrully advised that It is the opirr-
Ion of this dspartsent:
1. The aoamI44Ionet4' ooutt halls no authority to
aonttaot to pay the oounty filotk a oertaln twit rot *pro-
patlag a sew 48t of oorreoted ana improved Indexerr or all
the reootis kept In hia ofrio&* (Gee Ten-ant Qmnty v.
iiogsrs, 185 2. 3. 58s)
E. The oor6aIclalonera~ oourt ha4 authority to
allow the oounty olerk ~&se 0r 10 oonta per 100 words rot
Rtnnsoriblng, oomparl,ng mb verifying tooat books of hIa
ofrioe** as provided for by ittide 8930, Y.A.C.S. Suoh ree8
must be eooountea fox by the clerk as Pees or 0rri0a. (sea
Tarrent County Y. Dutler, 06 2. 1-j. tM%l
Roaorabl4 Yoab Ca?wbrll, Paa* 6
3. The county juQ4 hdi to $lm
sut+ority the
aounty olark for his labor eorurlry 444 naaerrarrly per-
formed in the 04m and praaarratlon of th4 raoordr of hi4
offioe, in makin and keeping neooarary iwlex44 thereto,
and other labor of 4 1Xke 01444, 4 r44n444bl4 oa24&``54-
tlon thdrsfor, not to axoeed tha fes4 ollow4d htm by law
ror lika rarvloon, and not to 4x04& on4 hundred dollars
rnnually. (Sac mtiola 39S1, V.A.C.S.) Suoh oomp8nartton
f4 8X-Offhi 8ODIp4B44t&3n44d 4bOdd b4 4OOOUZBtabfor by
f&m ol4rk ia tba Usterdnatian of hla o~anration wtd.r
~artielerSeas anu Stwl, v.A.a.5. A1.o in thir oon44atlon a*4
tho 0444 of An%erron County va. flopkinu, 187 5. %?. 1019.
4. ooutt ha4 authority
The 40~1~li44fo1~4r4* to
41100 ox-officio ooqeneatlon to oounty olerka undrr the
provlaion4 of snd within the liatltationa preroribed by
Artiolas 8895 and 3938, V.A.O.S.
Trusting that t&i4 44bl~faatOrily 4nm14r4 your
inquiry, am3 with bea8 regards, wo 4~4
Very truly you-e