Hon. Maxwell Welch 

Mstriat Attorney 

5th Judloial District 

Rew Boston, Texas 

Dear 9ir.l 

June 8, 1950 

opinion Bo. V-1068. 

Be: The legality a? appointing a speoial 

head of the automobile divlslon ln the 

office of the Tax 

Colleator of B&e 

county. 

Reference is made to your resent request aoh 

reads in part as follows: 

"The Tax Collector of Bowle County has 

?&de application to the ColaPlissloners Comt 

of Bowle County, Te%as, for authorltg to api 

point a special bead of the automobile divlsion of hi.8 office at a ealaq of $2700.00 

per annum. 'This application was made pursuL 

ant to the authority given by Artlole 7252 

of the Revised Civil Statutes, and such applicatiau contained all of the requlmmente 

set out in Article 3902. The County Judge 

advised the Tax Collector, upon the preeen-. '~ 

tation of such appllcatlcm, that the Cornnissioners Court did not have authority to grant 

the Tax Collector perm$ssion to employ such 

special head of the a\ltomobile divlslon, it 

being the County Judge's contention that Article 7252 applies only to counties containing 

a population of 355,000 or more, and Inasmuch 

as Bowle County doea not have such population, 

suoh speoial head is therefore not authorized. 

This office is of the opinion that said Artfcle 7252 does authorize our tax collector to 

appoint a special bead of the automobile dlvision of his office.' 

Prior to 1939, Article 7252 of Vernon's-'~Civll 

Statutes providedi 

'Rach assessor and oolleotor of taxes 

nmy appoint one or mope deputies to assist 
Hon. Maxwell Welch, page 2 (V-1068) 

hia in the assessment and collection of taxes, 

and may require such bond from the pepson so 

appointed, as he deems necessary for his indemnity; and the assessor and collector of taxes shall in all cases be liable and accountable 

for the proceedings and tisconduot in office of 

his deputies; and the deputies appointed in accordance with the p~ovislons of this Article 

shall do and perform all the duties imposed and 

required by law of assessors and collectors of 

taxes; and all act8 of such deputies done in 

confom&ty with law shall be as bIndIng and 

valid as if done by the assessor and collector of taxes in person.* 

However, this Act was amended by House Bill 822, 

Acts 46th Leg., B.S. 193gr ch.6, p,971, by adding thereto 

the fOllowLng~ 

m 0 0 0 provided, that in counties having 

a population of three hundred and fifty-five 

thousand (355,000) OP mope acooPting to the 

last preceding Federal Census, the Assessor 

and Collector of Teea mag In addition mutract ~5th speclal~deputies hating @pecrUl 

t&2miual training, skill, sind~expefienee for 

the purpvee of assisting hia fn obteu lnfor&&ion upon which to base proper valuations 

of oil and miueral bearing lands and pPoperties and intepests therein, Industrial and 

manufacturing plants, and other p??opePties 

where special technical skill and tPaining Is 

PequiPed. fin addition thereto, such Special 

assistants, cleriaal, aocotmtiug, OF stenographic, as may be necessary %o conduct the 

organization herein provided for and to carry out the purposes of this Act may be applied 

for and appointed in like manner provided they 

shall be appointed only fop purposes consistent 

with this Act. In addition thepeto, the AssesSOP and Collector of Taxes shall be aathorieed 

to apply fop the appointment of a special head 

of the autmobile dlvlsiou of his office at a 

salary not to exceed Two Thousand, Seven Huudred Dollars ($2,700) per annum. The comgensatim to be paid such special deputies and 

special automobile depmtment head Shall be 

subject to the approval of the Comnlssioners 

Court and the County Auditop, and l.%mltations 

upon the amount of such aompensatlon elsewhere 

- 
, 

Hon. Maxwell Welch, page 3 (V-1068) 

provided shell not apply. The contract of employment shall be for a definite tern, not 

extending beyond the tern of office of the 

Assessor apd Collector, and shall be made 

upon sworn application to the Conmissioners 

Court showing the necessity therefor, and 

shall be subject to approval both as to substance and as to form by the Commissioners 

Court and by the County Auditor." 

Article 3902 V.C.S., is the general statute 

authorlalng the appoin&uent of deputies, assistants and 

clerks by county and precinct officers, including the tax 

assessor and collector and providing the salaries to be 

paid. 

In Tidewater Oil Co. v. Bean, 148 S.W.2d 184 

(Tex.Civ.App.1941) overruled on other pouuds in Tldewater Oil Co. v. B&n, 138 Tex. 479, 160 S.W.2d 23m2 

it Is stated% 

"The pertinent rule applied In construing provisos is stated in 39 T.J., p. 

193, sec.102, as follows: 

*%nePally a proviso is construed in 

connection with the article or section of 

which it forms a part, and is to be given 

effect, If reasonably possible, acaording 

to the clear meaning of the language used. 

"'Ordinarily a proviso is lImited to the 

clause which next precedes it and to which it 

is attached. So where there are successive 

provisos. the aualiffinn t&m@ ,of the last 

will be uuderstood as refmrlnu to the one 

next precedingrV" (-Mais added) 

See also French v. WcQuistiou, 105 Tex. 299, 147 S.U.867 

(1912). 

It is observed that the amendment to Article 

7252 provides fop the appointment of special deputies 

having special technical training, by the tax assessor 

and oollectop in counties having a population of 355i000 or more, to assist him in obtainiug inf+ormat$om upon 

which to base proper tax valuations. It also provides 

"In addition thereto such special assistants, clerical, 

accounting or stenographic as may be necessarrg to conduct the organlsatlou herein provided fox? and to carry 
Hon. Raxwell Welch, page 4 (V-1068) 

out the puvposes of this Act" may be appointed; It further provides "In addition thereto* meaning in addition 

to those special assistants or deputies, the tax assessor and oolleator in such counties authorized to appoint 

speaial deputies or aSSlsta&s, "shall be authoriaed to 

apply for the appointment of a special head of the automobile dlvlsion of his office at a salary not to exceed 

Two Thousand, Seven Hundred Dollars ($2700) per annum.* 

This provision too~relates or refers to couuties only 

havLng a populatiou of 355,000 or more. 

Therefore it I.8 our opiniou that the provision 

in Article 7252, V.C.S., authorieing the appointaent of 

a special head for the automobile division of the tax 

assessorts offfice at a salary not to excreed $2700.00 per 

anutm is riot applicable to Bowle County. 

Ye believe we are supported in our coucluslon 

by the faot that if this provision had been applicable 

to Botie County at the time of its enactment, the special head of the automobile division in the tax assessorcollectors' office would be authorlxed to draw a salary 

of $2700.00 per anuum, while the chief deputy in the 

same offlce could have been paid only $2100.00. We do 

not believe that such was the leglslatlve inteat. 

Ftbher, in Attorney Gener%l% OpimLion Xo, O1175, dated August 12, 1939, subsequent to~the effective 

date of the 1939 vuuendment to Article 7252, it is stated8 

"You are further respectfully advised 

that it is the oplniou of this department 

that the Tax Assessor-Collector of Xueces 

County, Texas, nay apply to the Cosmissloxers* Court for authority to appoint deputies, 

stating the nmaber he desires to appoint, the 

positions to be filled, and the amount to be 

paid each, which shall be presented in his 

sworu appllcatlon to said Comilsslonerst Court, 

as. outlined in Article 3902, Revised Civil 

Statutes of Teras. The salary of the first 

assistant or chief deputy shall not exceed 

$2,100.00 per annua and the salary of other 

deputies olerks OF assistants shall not exceed $l,$OO.OO, in your couuty, under Section 3 of Article 3902, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. 

"You are further respectfully advised 

that It is the opinion of this department 
Hon. Raxwell Welch, page 5 (V-1068) 

that the maximum salary a legal deputy Tax 

Assessor-Collector, other than the first 

assistant or chief deputy, may receive in 

aZle year is $1,800.00. There Is no protision made in the statutes for lovertime pay 

or salary.t' 

SUXMARY 

The Comlssioners* Court of Bowie County is not authorized to employ a special head 

of the autcaoblle division in the tax assessor and colleatorts office at a salary of 

$2700.00 per~annum under the provisions of 

Article 7252, V.C.S., such Article being applloable only in counties of 355,000 or more 

population. 

APPROVRDz 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

County Affairs Division 

Tours very truly, 

PRICE NRIRL 

Attorney Oeneral 

Joe R. Oreenhlll 

First Assistant 

BA:%lW