The Attorney General of Texas 

September 10, 1981 

MARKWHITE 

Attorney General 

Honorable C. Michael Ederer 

Delta County Attorney 

Delta County Courthouse 

Cooper, Texas 75432 

Opinion No. MN-366 

Re: Whether salary grievance 

committee under.article 3912k, 

V.T.C.S., may grant a raise in 

excess of the amount requested 

Dear Mr. 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 that was requested by the officer who 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 required by the second sentence of subsection 2(d), which 

states that "[tlhe request shall be in writing, shall state the manner 

in which he is aggrieved...." You indicate that all nine members of 

the salary grievarice committee signed the recommendation that the 

sheriff be paid a salary of $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 circumstance when 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 latter body. In light of 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 commissioners court of 

the recommendation signed by all nine members 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 

fiscal year. The relevant portion is the following: 

p. 1224 
C. Nichnel Ederer - Page 2 (MW-366) 

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. 

(Emphasis added). 

This language empowers the committee to "recommend a change" and 

places no restriction on the committee's determination as to what such 

a change should be. The statute does not establish a specific limit 

beyond which the grievance committee cannot go. Since subsection 2(d) 

is devoid of any technical language or words that have 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 ordinary words addressed to him. 

We believe the members of the grievance committee had 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 

his written request. 

We note that the last sentence of subsection 2(d) was intended as 

an exception to the language that precedes it. The fact that this 

exception was applicable to the situation that interests you 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 

recommendation of the committee, does not mention any type of limit on 

the amount of raise that all nine members 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. 

p. 1225 
C. Michael Ederer - Page 3 (NW-366) 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

RICHARD E. GRAY III 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Walter Davis 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Susan L. Garrison, Chairman 

Jon Bible 

Rick Gilpin 

Walter Davis 

Jim Hoellinger 

p. 1226