Citation Numbers: 70 Op. Att'y Gen. 15
Judges: BRONSON C. La FOLLETTE, Attorney General
Filed Date: 2/2/1981
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
THOMAS A. MARONEY, District Attorney Waupaca County
Your predecessor has by letter asked for my opinion on the following questions:
1) Whether the county board as a whole must approve a forfeiture in the amount of $2,500 or greater in settlement of an action for forfeiture under sec.
50.04 , Stats., brought against a county owned extended care facility; and2) Whether or not the answer to the first question is different is the forfeiture is assessed as a consequence of an administrative order following a formal hearing instead of through a stipulated settlement.
The answer to the first question is yes. The answer to the second is that the county board must either directly authorize payment of a final administrative order or delegate that ministerial duty for sums of $2,500 or less. My reasons for the answers are set forth below.
In answering the questions I have assumed that your phrase "our County extended care facility" means that the county is the owner of the facility and that the "Board of Trustees" described in your letter as "managers" of the facility are trustees appointed in behalf of the county pursuant to sec.
If, as the letter suggests, there have been violations of ch. 50, Stats., at the county owned facility, then a cause of action lies against the county, and it is the county which is liable for the forfeitures *Page 16
under either secs.
The board of each county may exercise the following powers, which shall be broadly and liberally construed and limited only by express language:
. . . .
(3) Examine and settle all accounts of the county and all claims, demands or causes of action against the county and issue county orders therefor. In counties having a population of less than 50,000, the board may delegate its power in regard to current accounts against the county to a standing committee where the amount does not exceed $2,500.
Since Waupaca County has a population under 50,000, the limit of the county board's authority to delegate payment of money in any event is $2,500. The delegation is, however, limited to "accounts" and under ordinary principles of statutory construction would not include "claims, demands or causes of action." Examples of where that principle has been applied include: Mutual Fed. S L Asso. v. Sav. L. Adv. Comm.,
While the trustees under sec.
The imposition of a forfeiture by administrative order would lead to a different role for the county board as compared to that exercised in a settlement context. Assessment of a forfeiture through an administrative order is delegated by the Legislature through ch. 50, Stats., to the Department of Health and Social Services. To the extent that the county board objects to the assessment by the Department it must do so through the formal hearing and appeal routes specified. Sec.
BCL:RMR