# The Attorney General of Texas
September10, 1981 MARKWHITE Attorney General
Honorable C.Michael Ederer Delta CountyAttorney Delta County Courthouse Cooper,Texas 75432 Opinion No.MN-366
Re: Whether salarygrievance committeeunder.article3912k, V.T.C.S.,may grant a raise in excess of the amount requested DearMr. Ederer:
You have asked for our opinion regarding the power of a salary grievance committee to grant a pay raise that is larger than the amount thatwas requestedby the officerwho applied for the increase. The statutory provision that is controlling in this situation is section 2 of article 3912k.V.T.C.S.
You state that in accordance with subsection 2(d) of the above provision the sheriff of Delta County requested in writing that he be given a fifteen percent increase in his salary. Such a written request is requiredby the second sentence of subsection 2(d), which states that "[tlherequest shallbe inwriting, shall state themanner in which he is aggrieved...." You indicate that all nine members of the salary grievaricecommittee signed the recommendation that the sheriffbe paid a salaryof $1,000 a month. This iatter figure is in excess of the pay increase the sheriff would have received if his request for a fifteen percent increase had been granted. The last sentence of subsection 2(d) states that in the circumstancewhen all nine members of the comittee sign the recommendation for a salary increase the r&Z becomes effective without action of the commissioners court on the first day of the month following its delivery to the latterbody. In lightof the facts, the only question that needs to be resolved in the situation that concerns you is whether the grievance committee was empowered to grant a raise that was in excess of the written request. If it was possessed of this authority, the sheriff is owed the increase in salary from the first day of the month following the delivery to the commissionerscourt of the recommendationsignedby all ninemembers of the committee. The language in subsection 2(d) that must be construed in order to answer your question is that part of the provision that authorizes the committee to grant au officer a raise during the course of the fiscalyear. The relevantportion is the following:

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If, after a hearing, the committee by a vote of six of its voting members decides to recommend a change in the salary,expenses.or other allowance of the person requesting the hearing, it shall prepare its recommendation in writing and deliver it to the commissioners court, which shall consider the recommendation at its next meeting. (Emphasisadded). This language empowers the committee to "recommend a change" and places no restrictionon the committee'sdeterminationas towhat such a change should be. The statute does not establish a specific limit beyondwhich the grievance committee cannotgo. Since subsection2(d) is devoidof any technical languageor words thathave a special legal meaning, we believe the committee is free to make a recommendation that an officer receive a pay increase that is larger than the amount that was asked for in his or her written reauest. As Justice Frankfurter stated in Addison v. Holly Hill Fruit 'Products,Inc., 322 U.S. 607, 618 (1944):

...legislation when not expressed in technical terms is addressed to the common run of men and is therefore to be understood according to the sense of the thing, as the ordinary man has a right to rely on ordinarywords addressed tohim.
We believe the members of the grievance committeehad a right to rely on the language of subsection 2(d) and to recommend a change in the sheriff's salary that was greater than the pay raise he asked for in hiswritten request.
We note that the last sentence of subsection2(d)was intendedas an exception to the language that precedes it. The fact that this exceptionwas applicable to the situation that interestsyou does not alter the committee's power to give a pay raise that is larger than the one requested. The exception, which deals with the unanimous recommendationof the committee,doesnot mention any type of limiton the amount of raise that all ninemembers can recommend.

SUMMARY
Pursuant to the authority vested in it by section 2 of article 3912k, V.T.C.S., a county's salary grievance committee has the power to grant a pay raise that is larger than the amount that was requested by the officer who applied for the increase.

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MARK WHITE AttorneyGeneral of Texas JOHNW. FAINTER,JR. FirstAssistantAttorney General
RICHARD E. GRAY III ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral Preparedby Walter Davis AssistantAttorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
Susan L. Garrison,Chairman Jon Bible Rick Gilpin Walter Davis JimHoellinger

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