TIEXEATTORNEY GENERAL 

OPTEXAS 

April 28, 1939 

Honorable Geo. R. Sheppard 

Comptroller-of Public Accounts 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Oplnloti I?o. O-651 

Re: Wh6theYtti6 Ci-Unlnal~Dl~trict 

__.-. ~__. 

~'We-&r6-~in ~receipt of '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 fPoti the,Sttite 6f T%%as, 

aaaltiohiil-to'the salary provided iv Article 3912e, Revised 

Civil Statutes. 

The-Leglslattie of 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-four year$,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 

Juaiblal District, and in addltlon~i?tietited~tin &tld:aitiOnhl 

Dl~t~f&t~YCourt of ~Gregg CMfitg, ~kndwli i@ ,~h~~Sp~~d~l-Di~-ttriCt .., -. Cbbrt.for Giiegg'County,.Texas,'to ekpire~.f-our y&irs'Vfrom th%"-' 

effective date 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&tSbti date 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 preceding presidential 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;. 'In case of-.vacancy 

the co~lssloners'~court~of‘~the'county shall have the 

potjer ~to'appoint a county attorriey~unt'il the‘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~ln a-dlstrict~in'which.there‘sh~llbe B-~~strlct 'attbmey; the'res'pectliie‘autles ofdistrlct'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-of alstrict attorn'eys and . 

countyattorneys; provide&, aistrict~ at'torneys shall 

recexve an annual--salary of five hunarea dollars,-'to 

beg pala by the~state, and such fees,-~commisslons and 

perqulsltles as may be provided by law." 

On August 24, 1935, the people of Texas adopted Sectlon 

61 Article 16 of the Constitution reading as follows: . 

_. "All district officers in the State of Texas 

and all county officers in counties having a pop;nlatlon 'of 20,000 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‘this Resolution, 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 ~the then 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'dnd County 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 

Igl hIssaM ~of?Ycial~caijacity forttie fisbal-~e~~--of'.1935 

aiia'-nat-~~re‘th~.n-the~maxirmxm'allowed such officer under 

laws existing August 24th, 1935, . . . . 

'~ "(a) The compensation of's Crimlnal~~'DistrSct~Attornw, ~~- or County'Attorney~whd performs thedutIes of -- 

District'~Attoi+neys ". -,. 

_ t~ogeth'er~with the~compensation of, 

hTsY$ssistants;~ shall be pala-'out-of ttie~Count.y OffiE?$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 then same prop-ortfon to the'tdtal salkry~of~ suc.h Crlminal'DTs:trict Attorney;-or County~Attorney performing- the-duties- of a 

District Attorney, together Yith~~the‘salary bf‘hls 

hsslstants, as ~a11 felony '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-'the informationgiven us; we also 

und'erstand ~thatthe crlmfnal'alstrlct~attdrney of-Gregg County 

Is receiving the'full compensation provided in Section 15 of 

said Article 3912e. - 

From said Article 3912e, Section 15; It appears .thatthe 

coimnisslonbrs~ court in each county-'of less thank 20,000 inhabitaiits is 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 officer 
Honorable Geo. H. Sheppard, April 28, 1939, page 4 o-651 

3~n his offlcial~capacity for the fiscal year of 1935 and not 

more than the maxltium allowed him under laws existing August 

24, '1935. The total sum earned by-the criminal district 

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 criminal aTstrIct-attorney of 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~give whim 

a-$500-.00 salary advantage.over a11 other-distrlct~ and-.couiity 

officers, and it would be ~to alTow t-he fixing~'of tilsUnaximiiii~- 

as- being $500';00~more'than ttie"m&?imum-allow&3 him uMer.laws 

existmng August 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~~~~isald 

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~ hlls salary 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'~00 of 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: 

"It was 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-made as in any sense 

a~ grants of 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