Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

OFFICE OF THE A’IIORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Eonorable l’ho~a A. Wheat
A
county Attorney ( i$
Liberty County
I i,,I:,,
'....
Liberty, Texer
Doa* 81rt OQiaiOIl &To. ,p4s7-2-i ‘5:
~Rer How oft&i-she-yld hogs dsam-
stration agentii-asd cmAty
6&bU$tUl?3l fl&!lAtlU
be.aa-
,@oyed'w such a@At%~
J- /
'.Y 1942, requesting the
Your latter of &&i~?#27,
OQilliOA Of this dOpWfd!Wlt+3A,thbe ab'o``'iatatedqU6&3tiOA reads
\, IA part as follow8; \, "."i /
I
Or TOXEL~, UPOA .sUoh to-8 aAd OOAditiOM
a8
say be agreed upoa by ths Commie~lone~*
Court
and the Agents of the Agricultural and PIoobani-
061 College of Texas; and may employ euah EMBA8,
Honnrable Thomas .%.Zheat, &age 2
and map appropriate aAd expend such sung-or
money as may be nec3ssary to err3otiv8ly es-
tablish and carry an such demonstration work
in -+rICulture and Eome Economics in their
rcspeotive couAtle8. Mats 1911, p. 105;
Xots 1st C.3. 1917, p. 50; AOt8 1927, 40th
Leg. p. 9, Chi. 6, $1.)'
"IA Vietr 'Of the feCt that the COtissiOA-
era' Court must fix their budget every year,
I think that in view of this Statute that
they veuld in their budget have to allot a
.
oertain amount of money to provide for the
salaryof the County qrlculturol Agent and
COLlAty h,mOAEItIWtiOA ;yeAt. These funds would
be agproprlatid end sst aside in the budget.
Probably this would conteqlrite the eq&y-
in& of the ByeAts once eaoh year, although
the statute doe8 AOt'sosnto cover end be very
definite u?o,on the, subjeot;."
Rsfarring to titicle 164, sugra, it is stated iA
our opition ;:o.,C-2498:
RAgrioultural e&ante are employed by the
tiountles under &id statute."
%l'eam eMlOaiAg o``ie8 Of the above meAt:oAed
opinion and opinion No. O-1022 for your oonvenienoe. It
will be noted that OphiOA No. O-2498 is overruled In port
by OpiYliOA~NO. O-2709. '&at part of opinion 30. O-24$8
which i.8 overruled by Opinion BO. O-2709 is dth retereAoe
to the statutory authority whereby the Commis8loners~ Court
may employ a wolf trapper end say him a ealarp out of county
funde.
Artiole 689a-9, %‘ernon’a AMotated Civil Statutes,
provides:
"The County Judge shell serve a8 budget
ofrioer for the Commlesloners~ Court in oaoh
COUAtJT, and during the month Of July cl aaoh
year he, assisted by the County Auditor or by
the County Clerk, shall prepare R budget to
Honrrabie Thomas A. Rheat, Faf~e 3
awer all proposed expenditures of the county
gwernmmt for the eucoaeding year. Aoh~bud-
get nball be carefully ltezized so ~1s to ri@.ke
as olear 6 aomp3risoA 38 practicable betwean
expenditures included,in the proposed budget
and aotual expenditures for the same or simi-
lar ;3tlJFpOB38 Ior the meoebin~ mari Ihe bud-
gst ihi ~180 be a0 ;diaparad &-to *&VI 3s
defiaitely 38 gousible oath of the various
?rojeots for wbioh sppropr4ation.s are set
ug fn. thebudgot, and the detimoted avmunt
of mney carried in the budget I'OZ each of such
gro j sots. ;phS bUdgt3t.ShE!li C&lo CC5-&iA 3
coqleto finaaoial statement of the comty',
showlog all outstuudiy obligations oi the
coo&y, the cash 02 hand to the credit o? each
and every Zuud of tho oounty ~overomht, the
l'unda received from ail 33``~3s during the
previous rear, the ruAo6 3vallabIo fro3 all
aouroe8 during the 3A8UiAg year, the sbtleated
revenuas avail.&ble to cover the propoeed bud-
get and tha astinated rate or tax whfch will
be required.-
ibZicle~S(J9a-lll Y'arAon'Y Annotated Civil Statutes,
prOVid88 %A $i%rtr
" 'f&en the budget ha8 been finally
approrh*b; thy Comnlssioner81 Court, the
budget,~ 3s apprwed by the Court shall be
illad with the Clerk ai the County Court, and
tare8 levied only in aeoerdaaoe therewith,
and no 3Xp3AditUre of the fuude of the oounty
shall thereafter be made exoept in striot
coqlS&hoe with tha budget as adopted by the
court. 3xoe?t that emergency expenditures,
fA oaae of grave publio A8Oee8ity, t0 met
unusual'ahd unPore8esn aoaditiohs whd6h could
not, by reaeonably dlf&snt thought sod attan-
tion, have been ino11~Ied In the ariginal bud-
zet, may Croa time to time be authorized by
the Court as ole5dBieAtS to the orl&nel bnd-
get. In all cases where suoh axendmmt to .tha
original bud&et la mde, a oopy of the order
or the Court amending the budget shall be fil-
ed 171th the Clerk of the Countp Court, and at-
tacbed to the 9ud@, originally adopted."
Eooorabla Thomas A. ;&eat, nige 4
Yiaare inZmme(l bp the Dapartrsnt of Cooperative
L%LaMiOn Xork in ~icultura and Home Zconomics of the kyri.-
cultural and fdaohanicel College of Taxas that;
"The Comi.ssiooare* Courts or practically
all counties in Texas have, in oomplianoe with
the state law, pasaad orders appropriating
SUMS to Cooparata, with the United States Dapart-
nant of &rioultura Cooperatioa Extension Xork
and the State of Teras, through the A. and Id.
College %tenslon h-vice, 15 providing for
coutitp agrioultural agents and home demmatra-
tio5 agenta. These oourt orders are oantinuous
. at the discretion or the Courts and tbls agency.
The agents era auployed by this Bervioe
i5i &signed to the various aountiee in ooopera-
tic5 with the Commlsslo5ars' Courts. . . ."
Fe have before us a form oi an order usually 'mad
by the Commlsslonars* Court in appropriating tunds for Co-
oparatfra &tension '%ork in agrioultora:and hma aoonotics
uhioh provides in part: 1
*This appropriation shall be oontinuous
annually until the Conunlssionars* Court or the
Zxta5slo5 Service OS the A. and !.& Collage of
Texas shell deoide to disoontinua same, and
the order ot disaontilluanoe shall be passed
05ly daring the month of whi Oh
tiPls will be aear the olosa of the sedo5 and
the year.8 work. Otherwise this order and
agraamant shall remain in afiaot from year to
year. The CormPiseioneraV Court or the %ta5-
sio5 Servioa of the A. and 24. College of Taxas
shall give notioa .Sn writing to the other co-
oparating aganoy at least thirty days prior to
any ofrloialaation pertaining to the disoon-
tinuanoa of thcwork in the uounty and set a
data ror a joint hearingi I5 the eve5t the
work is disoontinuad, the order shall not be
afiactlve until thirty days after the date of
its passage."
gy virtue of the above mentioned statutes. the bud-
get for the county must be prepared in the mamier and *thin
the time presorlbad by said statute. In ptsgaring the budc;et
3onorabla Thomas .:..heat, 31:.:9
5
Lhe salariie GS ti.;: co:;,niy :i.~;ricultu.z31 i;;eiit3 :i.xi ?&me
tiemonstr?tiGn :.-?s :‘.>r ~r.lgstiofi it is our o,oin-
ion, as abone stat;od,tlxittm 5oiwiissl:~ners' Co'urt stall
s~mlly ejyproyi:&,e funds litid
set II:>
;he xne.in the county
i;udqetfor the above ;centisnedagects &nd the a;prQ?ri?tion
shall be oontinuous annually -untilthe ::ommicsioners'iourt
or tha ktension 5ervice OS