tiFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Honorable A. M. Pribble County Attorney Kills County Goldthwaite, Texas
Rear Sir:

We we quote, in

" 'Under Set

of the County erviosr of musio

Vernon's Annotated Givil Statutes, was enacte e Forty-seventhLegislature, regular Section 1 thereof fixes the salaries of th oeriutendencs,provides for the making of an annua 'provides ior~the appointments of assistants to the county superintendent. Section 2 of Article 2700.1 reads as follows:Honorable A. LL Pribble, page #2

"The County Superintendentof Public Instructionmay, with the approval of the County Board OS Education, employ one ormore school supervisors to assist in planning, outlining, and supervising the work of the Public Free Schools in.the oountywhich is under the supervision of,the County Superintendentof Publio Instruction. Said supervisor or supervisors shall et all timeswork under the supervision and direction of the County Superintendent of Publio Instruction, as other assistants are i r.quired to do, and must have evidence of pro,- ficienoy in rural shoool supervisionand must be the holder of at least a Bachelor o,fScience Degree or higher,, Suoh supervisornorsupervisors I may reoeive-a salary of not to exoeed ,TwoThousand Dollars ($2,000) ,per'an&m, to be paid out,of the same funds and in the samemanner as that. of the County~'Superintendent of Public Instruction and,other,

a,ssi,stants.vAt the,outsetti sre confrontedwith'the~ question whetherArtiole'~~2700~1 is applioable~to~~ex offici&+superintendents* If.;$t,~is',' we"think that,

a~musiosupervisor~coulU be employed under theprovisions of~Seotion.2. above quoted, for such provisions do not speoify.or limit.the type of snpervisor other tha,nto ,state,that he will assist ia,planning, outlining,and,supervising the oounty'sohools;,We-believe that if the county ,sueerint~endent and countyboard, in ,the exeroise'oftheir, ~di.sore~op,.,;ld$termine that'smusio supervisor is needed, ~one.:could be -employed

under Seetion 2. .However,,,ie

must first determinewhether Artiole 2700.1 is applioable to.ex officio superintendents,

Article 26&j .vernon'sAnnotated ~ivi.lStatutes, provides for theoffiqe of oountg'superintendentin,all * oounties of ~300Q:,or more scholastics, 'andinqounties of a less number upona vote ~ofthe qualified ,elaotors.'

.~Honorable A. ld.Pribble, page #3

r Artiole 2701, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, provides as follows:

*In each county having no school superintendent, the oo*untyjudge shall be ex offioio county superintendentand shall perform all the duties required of the county superintendentin this chaoter. He shall give bond in the sum of Cne Thousand Dollars ($l,OOO),payable toand to be approved by the County Board of School Trustees of the -respectivecountiesand conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties. The salary of the ex~'officio Superintendentsof Public

_ Instruction in all counties in Texas shall be, from and after September 1, 1936, Apaid from the State and County Available School Fund. (As amended Acts 1935 447, Sec. l.jw,44t,h Leg., 2nd. C. S., p. 1732, oh.

Article 3888, Vernon's knnotated Civil Statutes, reads as follows:

*In a~county where the County Judge aots as superintendent of pubMio.instruotion,he shall receive for such services such salary not to emaeed,NineHundred Dollars ($900)a year as the County Board.of Sahool Trustees of the respeotive countiesmay provide, The amount shall beg paid.inthe manner specified in Chapter 4%, Acts. of'the'r'qrty-first, Le islature Session (Art :27&%l-ly,.andin'G!~$%$l?cts

,* of the Fort (Art. .-se&&d Legislature;Regular S&ion 2827a~,.', 7 (Asamended Acts~l935, 44th Leg., 2nd. C. S., p. 1732, ch. 447, Sec. 2.)"
We see.that the County Judge -- ex officio superintendent is chargedwith the performanceof~the.sameduties

as any other county superintendent;his salary for the performance of these duties is payable from the Available School Fund. .~,^.

.HonorableA: M.'Pribble, page #4

As a general rule it may be that, beoause of the small'numberof soholaatios in his oounty, the County Sudge-- ex orficio superintendentdoes not have to spend a great. amount or time in the performance of school duties. But i;: it is certainly conceivable that in some instanceshe may not have time to disoharge his duties properly. Likewise, the s~chools

in his county may require a certain trainingor supervision in order to supply somethingneeded.

Obviously, Article 2700.1 is Xmited to,,eleotivs county superintendents,as suoh, when it fixes their sa&- ries. However, that part of the Act (Section2) providing for the employment of superv.isors is not so limited, ana we do not feel that we oould read such a limitation fnto theAct.

You ace, therefore, advised thatthe~ County Judgeex officio school superintendentmay, With ~theapproval of the county board, employ a supervisorof~musio under Section 2 of Article 2700.k, proviaea; of course, such spp,ervisor possesses the qualifications~setout in said article. Hi,s salary is to be paid snoutof the same funds and in the same. ,~ manner" asthat of the county superintendent.

Very truly yours ATTORNEY GENE&, OF TEXAS

By-55 /s/ GeorgeYl.Sparks

Asei~qtant
Gws-e
APPRO'@D SEP 23,~~&942 Gerald C. kiann Attorney General of Texas This opinion oonsidered and approved in limited conferenoe.