740 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

OCMWCwUm 

A--- 

Honorable Fred Nor316 

OountJ Auditor 

Polk County 

Livingston, Texar 

Dear Sir: 

your letter OS 

of thie department 

questions are ar folkeep order an8 quiet 

of the oourt can be 

ve the authority to 

g the quiet of the 

unty Judge have ruthorlty to reay beoauae membere of the aaid 

ot present at the time oourt war 

eal& County Judge asouming that 

was ordered to oonvene was a 

*Does the County Judge have mthorlty to dompel the attendmoe of the county aommleelonera at 

Commleelonerr Court meetinga? If so, by what prooesa?n 

Art1ole.a 2342, 2343, 2384 and 2361, Vernon*8 Annotated 

Civil Statuteo, read 88 followe! 
Honorable Fred NorrIo, pago 2 

‘Art. 2342. The several oommi8eloner8, tofather with the oounty Judge, shall oompose the 

Commle8loner8 Court,N and the oounty Judge, when 

wesent, ah811 be the prerldlng offioer of Paid 

oourt.* 

“Art. 2343. Any three members of the 8ald court, 

inoludlng the oounty JUag8, 8hall oon8tltut8 a quorum 

for the tranraotlon of any bu8ine88, exoept that OS 

levying a county tax.* 

“Art. 2354. Ro aounty tax 8hall be lerled eioept at a regular term of the oourt, and when all 

member8 of 8alQ oourt are prerent.' 

"Art. 2361. Eaoh oomml8slonerr oourt rhallr 

II) l * 

'13. Punl8h oontempt8 by fine not to exoeed 

twenty-five dollars or br lmprlsotuoent not Tao exOe8d twenty-four hour8, and In o88e of fine, the 

party may be held In ourtody until the fine 18 

pal&. 

II* * *** 

While the oomml88loner8~ Oourt i8 a oon8tltutloMl 

oourt of general Jurlrdiotton when rating within the sphere 

of the power8 and dutler oonferred upon It by law, and 18 8mpowered to punl8h for oontempt (Art. 2351, R.C.S., 19251 Gainer 

v. Newbrough, 12 T.C.A. 466, 34 S.W. 1048; 9 Tex. Jur. 608) 

the power rerldes In the oourt and not in the mm. 

Thl8 d8oartment ha8 repertedly held that under Seotlon 18 of Artloli 6 ef the Texai Conrtltution and Articl88 

2342 an& 2343 of the Rerired Clrll Statutes, 1926, the oounty 

Judge Is merely a oompanent part of the oommlseionerr' court, 

enjoya equal rotlng prlrlleger and together with any two oommissioner8 oonetltute8 a quorum. He 18 dlrtlngulrhed from 

other m8mber8 of the oourt while in 8e88lon only in that h8 

18 lte pre8ldlng offloer. Oplnlon SOS. O-1716; O-2145; 

0-2415A; O-2726. 
742 

Honor&b18 Fred lf0rri8, page 3 

You are aooordlngly advIsed In anlwer to your flr8t 

quertlon that the oounty oommIr8Ionerr and the oounty JuQge 

oonetitute the oounty oommlsslonerr' oourt and the power to 

punish for contempt reeldee in ruoh ppIlE4 and not In It8 preeldlng officer. The oounty Judge, aoting alone ha8 no outhorlty to flne a member for dlrturblng the quiet of the oourt. 

We pale to your seoond question oonoernlng the authority of the county Judge to rece8e from day to day when 

member8 of the oourt are not present at the time and plaoe 

releoted for meeting. 

In LabodIe Y. Dean, 47 Tex. 90, and LIparl v. State, 

19 Tex. Ct. App. 431, the oourt haQ oooarlon to dI8tIngulrh 

b8tWeOnterma and 8088lOn8 of the OOlnmie8lOnOr8' OOUrt. Th8 

E ozrthe ~ommleslonerr ' OoUrt are fIXed by law; It8 1pIl- 

+it are matterm for the dl8oretIon and artenlnatlon of the Court. There may be a w without there being 

a m Llparl *. State, 8upra. 

Th88e rule8 are oalled to your rttrntlon to emphaeits that the seas1 no of the oommlaeloner8~ oourt &re 

matter8 left by law to'the dieoretlon of the C@irt 8.M not 

It8 pr88lding officer, the oounty JUd88. fn thI8 rerpeot 

hls authority 18 only aomaensurate with other oounty oommf88lOn8r8. 

Of oourri the oourt murt be orgnnlzed l ooor dlng 

to law (Warehan v. ~lohnrdr, 46 Tex. 441) and a quorum muet 

be pre8ent to tranraot bulrlnere. 

A8 rtated in Dalton v. Allen, 110 Tax. 68, 210 

8. w. 439r 

"The statutrr merely requlre that th8 oounty 

Judge prerlde when preeent, and authorixe the tranrrotlon 0r thr oounty'8 bu8lnera, 8ave when otherwI8e 

exprermly provided, by three members of the oourt.* 

Therefore, In answer to your reoond querSlon, you are 

8dvl8ed that If a quorum (two oounty oomalesloner8 and the OOUnty Judge or three oommlroloner8 In hlr l b88nO8) Is prelent, 

the county Judgr may not reoe8e meeting8 of the OoUrt from 

dry to day because of the ab8enoe of other oounty oommis6Ionerr. 

If 8 quorum is not present, no notion at all oan be taken -- 

thr oommIe8lonerr' oourt is not in re88lon. 
743 

Honorable Fred Norris, page 4 

Your final question conoerne the authority of the 

oounty Judge to compel attenflanoe of conmleslonere at meeting8 

of the cburt. 

The rule Is reourrent that the oounty Judge, whlle 

the preelding officer, is only a member of the commlr8loner8 

court. He has been glven no authority on his own motlon to 

compel sttendanoe. Whether or not he may, ae any c,ther oltizen, 

obtain a writ of mandamu8 to oompel attendanoe, will depend upon faots of eaoh partloular oaee. As to the80 we cannot Ipeoulate. See Oplnlon No. O-2726. 

Your Attention 18 dirOCt8&, howrver, to Artlole 397 

of the Penal code maklng It 8 ml8deme&nor for any member of 

the oommleslonerrl o,?urt to fall or refuse to attend any 

meeting of the oourt et which the burine88 or quertlon of levyIng a OoUnty tax fbr any purpocle 18 to be aoted on, an& 818~ 

to Artlole 425 of the Penal Code mlklng It a ml8demeanor In 

oertain lnrtancee for any member of the oomml8rlonerr~ court 

to~fall or refn8e to rote upon the releatlon of a oounty deporitory. These artloer read ae follow8: 

*Art. 397. should ang member of the oomml8eloner8 

oourt of any aounty wllfully fall or refure to attend any regular meeting or term of raid aourt 

at whloh the bueinesa or question of levying a 

county tax for any purpose le to be acted on, he 

8hall be fined not leea than two hundred nor more 

than fir8 hundred &olla,r8.* 

‘Art. 425. Any msmber of the oommleolonerr 

oourt who shall fall or rrfusr to rote at any 

February term thereof next following eaoh general 

eleotlon for L complianoe with the requlremente of 

the law proVl&lng for the seleutlon of a bank or 

banker a8 the depo8ltory of the fund8 of ruoh 

oounty ehall be fined not less than one hundred 

nor more than fire hundred dollarr or be lmprieoned ln Jail not less than one nor more than alx 

monthr, or both. Such failure or refural 11 ground 

for removal from offlo8." 

Very truly your8 

APFROVEYFEB Z'i, 2.94)~ 

ATTCRNEY GENERAL 0.F TEXAS 

JDS:Jr 

ATTORNEY OESERAL OF TEXAS 

JJY