### TIEXEATTORNEY GENERAL OPTEXAS

April 

### 28, 1939

Honorable Geo. R. Sheppard Comptroller-of PublicAccounts Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: Oplnloti I?o.O-651 Re: Wh6theYtti6 Ci-Unlnal~Dl~trict __.-. ~__.

~'We-&r6-~in

~receiptof 'gotir‘.letteti bi'April~~l8~;~

x939; i~hietibiii

jrClifreqti&st

our oIjixil6n

&s~~to~j~hi%hM

~,tii?~~hti~m'iiiaI~~&ls- - . .,_ - tP7Ict‘titttjrtieg

6f-.Gr@g-.Couiitjr

ls~entltl6& to--receive an iiriz-' ii~al.~cod~itFtut~onal-'s~larg oft-$500~.00

fPotithe,Sttite

6f T%%as, aaaltiohiil-to'the salaryprovided iv Article 3912e,Revised Civil Statutes.

The-Leglslattieof T&as';'~in.1931, by Hou~6~'B'lT1'49~, Ch&pt&r~23,~Acts~~Flrst~Calle&Ses$Zon,42nd~LeZjii%l&tur6,-created t& 124th~~Jtidicltil DIktrFct-fbP Gregg CNnty; '&a.lfii"BEe--

._. scriblfig'th6t'organii&tlon ttietiebf

"-tii%atea~~th0

bfflze Of'

CiYmitial~Dlst~~~t

Attorney. The ktirt 'ka&.cr6&t& fbr ti'pez+lodof-fouryear$,and iioiala have‘e%plri%I

OI--Aiigiist

~12,1933. By House Bill 226~,/Chapt-e?? 4; Acts 44tti~L6giBlEku%,1935;the Leglsli.itureniad~3pe~manent-'the~Dist~lot:~C~urt Pdr~th6.~12~th JuaiblalDistrict, and in addltlon~i?tietited~tin &tld:aitiOnhl Dl~t~f&t~YCourt

of~GreggCMfitg,~kndwli i@ ,~h~~Sp~~d~l-Di~-ttriCt

.., -. Cbbrt.forGiiegg'County,.Texas,'to ekpire~.f-our

y&irs'Vfrom

th%"-' effectivedate of th@ Act, Janutirg-25; 1935: ~The~L&glX&tiire bj Hou'se-BilI.82, Chapter 34,~~Acts, Fijrty-f;l~th'Leg~:slat~re,-- 2fia‘Cglled

Session, 1937,'.extended thKexprr&tSbtidate of-t%- Spticial

Court to-'January

25, 1943:'~~Bbth

of these Gregg County District Courts are in continuous session.

Section 20, of Chapter 4, Acts 44th LegisL@ure, provided:Hon. Geo. H. Sheppard,April 28, 1939, page 2 

### o-651

salary of Five Hundred Dollars per annum allowed to District Attorneys, to be paid by the State of Texas in the manner provided by law for paying the salary of District Attorneys, be pald'the same fees which are now allowed and paid to County and District Attorneys In counties where less than three thousand votes were ca'st at the precedingpresidential election." Section 21 of Article 

### 5 of the Constitution of Texas, provides as follows:

"A county attorney, for counties in which there is not a residentcriminal district' attorney shall.be ijl~cted~~bjr't~e'.pual~-fied voters'of'each-'county, iiho shisll'.be'bommissibn~edby'~the Governor,‘and hbl&'hTs~ offI.ce'~for

the t'erm'of

two years;. 'Incase of-.vacancy the co~lssloners'~court~of‘~the'county shall have the potjer ~to'appointa county attorriey~unt'ilthe‘hextgeneral"eIection..The'county attorney shall represent the-state ln~all cases In the District and-inferior .~~ _. courts in their respective counties; but If any'-county shall be incluaed~lna-dlstrict~in'which.there‘sh~llbe B-~~strlct 'attbmey; the'res'pectliie‘autlesofdistrlct'and county attorneys. shall'In such EountieKbs Fe&il.ated

by~the'

Legislature. .,.

The-Legislatur~may'. provlde'for'the election of distriCct-attorneys insuch alstrlcts as may be seemed necessary; ana make RrWisions for the compensation-ofalstrict attorn'eys and

. countyattorneys; provide&, aistrict~ at'torneysshall recexve an annual--salary of five hunarea dollars,-'to begpala by the~state, and such fees,-~commisslons and perqulsltlesas may be provided by law."
On August 24, 1935, the people of Texas adopted Sectlon 

### 61 Article 

### 16 of the Constitution reading as follows:

.

_. "Alldistrict officers in the State of Texas and all county officers in counties having a pop;nlatlon 'of20,000 or more, according to the then last prec~eding

Federal‘Census, shall from the first day 0.f January and thereafter and subsequentto the first Regular or Special'

Session of the Legislature afterthe-- a&option of‘thisResolution, be compensate&on asalary basis." In all counties in the State; the Commissioners Court shall-Abe

authorii&to determine whether precTnct ioffIcers-'shall-.be compensatea ona fee basls~~orona salary basis;'and-‘in~countles having~a populatioti of less than 20,000 accorCTl-ng'to ~thethen last preceding .~_. ~,~~ _~,.._ F-&era1 Census~,

the'Cominls~sloners Court shall~also have the authority to determine whether county officers. .

Hon. Geo. R. Sheppard,April 

### 28, 1939, page 

### 3 o-651

shall be compensated on a fee basis or on a salary basis

. . . ." Article 3912e. Section 15, reads in part as follows:
"Sec.. 15. The Commissioners'Court"Sn counties having-.a populatxon of less than ttienty thousand '(20,COO) inhabitants, according to.'the last preceding Federal. Censusat the.first regular meeting in January of -each'~ calendar-'year,

may pass an'order proviaing'forcompensa- ~. tlon‘of-all county and precinct officers ona salary basis. Th~eComitilssloner~s Court in-each of such'counties ls~.~ ~~~~by~~-8uthorii'~;--and It-'shall'be'.its'-dutg; to fixthe salaries of~C~iminal‘DlStribt~~A~to~n~ys.~‘~In~the~~~~eiit Sibh Coiitit

@sses such~order they shal'l'pay-.to each of LBTa~Disfrict'dndCounty officer‘s' ins mohejian‘annua.l siifarg mu tw-~lve(12T~.MtiaI.~ i~st.~llin-~~ts..of

..n6~. iefis than the~tbtal~

s~~.ea~~~-as~cornpens~t~o~‘ljy 

### sna officer IglhIssaM ~of?Ycial~caijacity forttie fisbal-~e~~--of'.1935 aiia'-nat-~~re‘th~.n-the~maxirmxm'allowed such officerunder laws existingAugust 24th, 1935,

. . . . '~ "(a) The compensation of's Crimlnal~~'DistrSct~Attornw, ~~- or County'Attorney~whdperforms thedutIes of -- District'~Attoi+neys

". -,. _ t~ogeth'er~with

the~compensation of, hTsY$ssistants;~

shallbe pala-'out-of ttie~Count.y

OffiE?$sV SaI&,,ji

'En& 'but.t.ie

State"$hal-i

pgig ~.lieita such'-fixd-

g&ah-- ~. -..-- g&XF ati

amount'ijqual

to a‘bum'tihich

bears thensame prop-ortfon to the'tdtal salkry~of~ suc.hCrlminal'DTs:trictAttorney;-or County~Attorneyperforming- the-duties-

of a District Attorney, together Yith~~the‘salary bf‘hls hsslstants, as ~a11felony 'fees-collected by suchoff~cTa1 dUr;rrig

then year of1935 bear to-the total fees collected by such official during such year." -Article 391263,

RevIsedCivil Sta;tutes; alas- enactaiI-for then purpose of carrying Into effect said Section 61 of the"- Constltiition

of Texas. ‘We are'advised that"Gi;egg County~has a“RopuIat'Lon

of less than -2O',COO inhabitants accoraing'to the last- Faeral Census. From-'theinformationgiven us; we also und'erstand

~thatthe crlmfnal'alstrlct~attdrneyof-Gregg County Is receiving the'full compensationprovided in Section 15 of said Article 3912e. -
From said Article 3912e, Section 15; It appears .thatthe coimnisslonbrs~

court in each county-'of less thank20,000 inhabitaiitsis adthoriied to fix the salaries of aIIU'dXstrFct aria county officers, and Is required to fix the~'salary of'the crltiinal district attorney. The amountof~~the salary Is not to be less than the total sum earned as compensation by an officerHonorable Geo. H. Sheppard,April 

### 28, 1939, page 4 

### o-651

3~n his offlcial~capacityfor the fiscalyear of 1935 and not more than the maxltium allowed him under laws existingAugust 24, '1935. The total sum earned by-the criminaldistrict attorney of Gregg County ln.the-year 1935 included the constitutional salarjiof $5OO.OG, ana he has aIrea8y had~the-‘ benefit of'thatfact in the-fixing of~'his salary. The statute fiu?ttier~provldes

that the-.compensation of the criminal'district attorney shall be paid out of the County Officers' Salary Fund.

It is quite clear that it was Intended-'for ttie'salapy of a criminalaTstrIct-attorneyof a county having a populatlonof‘less‘than 2O;OGO lnhabi~tants~ to-be~.fi~xed.b~.Sectio;h 15 XArficle 3912e. To--allow" him ah~~addltional -$5Gti.O0

tb'be...

'- ~ald,out-of--ttie'~G~h~~al-'Fiina'bf the State woiilkl

be td~givewhim a-$500-.00

salary advantage.overa11 other-distrlct~ and-.couiity officers, and it would be ~toalTow t-hefixing~'of tilsUnaximiiii~- as- being $500';00~more'than ttie"m&?imum-allow&3 him uMer.laws existmngAugust 24;~~1935~.~“'~Manif~stlJi's~cti ira~.n'ot“th-~-'purpose of~the'~Statute.Fiirthermore,~ that ArtTcle-"provides ttiat-the

_._ comp~~s~tron-6f.the-~rimSiial ~~Strlctattoriiey~ shall Mpald out-of the'county Oeficers'~Sal~ry~Fund;~"Aotti~~~~is ald about paying $500.00 of it out of the State Treasury.

,..

..._ ., _ fin splte~

of~the factthatthe' Legisiatiire'has plainIy provided, or attempted to provlde.;~that~ hllssalary stiall'be f'ik%i atiiotless than~thetotal'sum earned‘by'him'forthe fQicbis;I year of~l935'~(lnE1udlng %he '$500:00'&ohstiCitibiUil'~ s%ilarg)-

aiid not-more than the-maximum amount'allowti~ tiimYinder l~~.v-~exi~ting"'.A~u~~ 24,. 1935, 1s.the'crf,i,ifigI'~ iJfstpfct-'-at'-

_... .~ .~ _ f;b~ne;gto~~reO~iv~'an additIona1-.-$500'.00'~ by reason of-the pro-
_ vUSons-in Section- 2Yof Ar~t;lcle'5~'6f'ttie"Co~~tituti-on?--We think not;. The~'~fflcer"~is-redelvLng~-the ~alarij.fFxed~~for-.h~m. It-~does

not appear to us-to'.be-'of great impdrtarice'~heth~r-'a _~. parficular$500'~00of such salary comes'-from-the State Treasury-or from-them

County"Officers'Salary P'uhd. ~-.'~We quote?rom the opinion of.Chief Justice-Phlllips in the case of Bexar Co. vs. Linden, 220 S.W. 761, as follows:

"Itwas within the Legislature's power, ins our OpQilon, to provide for the"drspositlon of the excess fees of'~DlstrIct

Attorneys'as Is done by theStatute. We do not regardthe disposition-madeas in any sense a~ grantsof pubIlc man-ey,. The statute Is in our view, therefore, a valid enactment. "This holding Fs base?l upon then

reIatlon whFch'the coiintles

of the State bear t&the sovereignty of~the State; upon their character as mere political~subdivi; slons of the State; created for the convenience of the. .

Hon. Geo. H. Sheppard,

### April 28, 1939,Pam 5

pebple"arid

fork the 

### o-651. .-

Hon. Geo. H. Sheppard,April 

### 28, 1939, page 

### 6

Yours very truly
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS By s/Gldn R: L&ii3 Glenii R. Lewis Assistant
GRL:N
APPROVED
.. s/Gerald C. Mann ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS 

### o-651