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OFFICEOF**THE AmORNEY**  **GENERAL** 

### OFTEXAS

Honorable C1l8. County Attorney Brewl'tsr oounty Alpine, Texa8 **AUSTIN**

Your letter of A or

### thin departmant uponth IeWlVOd* rwuestingan opinion question has been



### IIBrewster County. 1041, said Bank

henesourity is dstaribed, **Treasury bon&r,**  **and** 

### *heir numdoontraot andbondrroitse that

‘tha oonditiom of the above oontraoted am
. euoh, that, wh.wme, the above boundenpledge, First National BankofAlpine, Texa8, 

### was on 10th day of Bebruary, 1911, duly andlegal1 ohosen **by** 

### Oomieeionerr Court of Brim&m County, 4mm, 1Honorable 0, X, Patterson, Page 2

. . a8 County Dspository, ior said County, for a period of two years, ending 60days from the date of the time fired by law for the next seleotion of a depository.’ Thenthe rest of said oontract reoitea oondltlons of same, as provided by statute.” Theduties of oountp.depositories are presoribed in detail by the statutes, namely, Artlalea 2544-2SSSa, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutea, A8a gsnsral rule a de ository is not relieved from liability until the funds depoe ted with it P 

### comeinto, the 

### oontrol and oustody of the proper offlolala. Andthe liability my not be disoharged-through a secret arrangement, hot equivalent to payments, made

### betweenanin-. ooming and retiring depository. (State V. Tyler County Sank, 202 9. W. 2llt Taague Independent Sahool Diatriot V, First State Bank, 241 9. W. 608)

Article 2544, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, provides, in partr

*The Commiealoners Court of each oounty is hereby authorized and required at the February Regular Termthereof ’ next following eaoh general eleotioa to enter into a oontraot with anybanking oorporation, assmiation or individual banker in such oounty for the deaositihg of the gublio funds of suah county in suoh bank or banks,

. . .e

Artiole 2545, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, reads as follows~

### *Anybanking aorporation, association or individual banker in suah oounty desiring to be designated as oounty depository shall wake and deliver to the C~ouhtyJudge an ajaplioation apolying for such fund8 and sold applioation s&lx state the amount of paid up oapital atook and permanent surplus of said bank and there shall~ be furnished with said appliaatiOn a statement showing the fiuanoial oondftion of said bank at the date of said applioation whioh shall be delivered to the county Judge Onor before the first day of the terin of the Cow&+ sioners Court at whioh the SeleOtlOnOfthe

## 169
Honorable C, I&,Patterson, Page 3
depositories is to be made. Said applioation

, shall aleo be aacofipanled by a oertified aheok

for not less than one-half OSone 

### per cent of / the oounty’s revenue’ for the preoeding year aa

‘ j, a guarantee of the good faith on the mart of

said bank, and that if said bank is accepted, as county depository, that it will enter into 

### thebond hereinafter provided. Uponthe.failure of the banking oorporation, association, or individual banker in suoh oounty that maybe selected aa depoeitorp, to &ve the bond required by law, the amount of such certified
‘I check shall go to the county as liquidated.

damages and the county judge shall readvertise I for appliaations, if neoesaary, to obtain a : county depository ror said county.” 1~ I bticle 2648, Vernon’s Annotated CivilStatutes; pm vides in partr

*It shall be the duty of the Commissioners Court at ten O?.clook a.m. on the first day of each term at whloh banka are to be seleated as oounty depositories, to oonaidor all applioations filed with the County Judge, cause suoh applications to be entered upon the minutes 

### oftheCourtandtoeelect those 

### applicants that are aoceptable andwhoorder the most favorable terms and oonditions for the handling of such funds and having the power to rejeat those whose managementor condition, 

### inthe opinion of the Court, does not warrant placing of county funds in their poeaession.

. . ,* It will be noted that Article 2545, aupra, 5peCiflCally provides that 

### Vpon the failure of,the banking corporation, assooiation, or individual banker in suoh county that maybe selected aa depository, to give the bond required by law, the amount of auoh oertified oheok’shall go to the county as liquidated damage8and the county judge ahall readvertise for applications, if neoeesary, to obtain a county depository for said oounty.” It will be further noted, that the statute

, (Artioles 2567-2569, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes) provides for the seleation of a depository upon the insolvenoy of abank which is a county, oity or distrlot dapoeitory.

It Is stated in Corpus Jurls Seoundum,Vol. 20, p. 7521Honorable C, Is. Patterson, Page 4

“Under somestatutes an annual designation of depositpies la required, and in such caeo designation of the depositary oontlnues for a qeriod of a year only. s not limited to one Theterm of a depositary year by a statute requiring the board of deposits to meet at a.epeoified time annually, or at any time summoned to de&gnat& the banka of the state deemedeligible for Ieposite. Astatutory provirrlon requiring the seleotion of a depositary every two yeare has been held mandatory. Whoreneither statute nor agreement fixes. the term of the depositary, the relatfon oont&uaa:durlng the mutual will of the parties to the oontraot, and a deeignation will be presumed to continue until a ohawe ie s,howA. IA such aaee the government nay:t,erminate the relationship whenever the pubfb safety requirea it, but only by not,ica of the eleotion to wlthdraw the de o&t. f The depoeitary mayterminate the relat onehip only by notice of its eleotion to that effeot and the tender of the **deposit, A**  reda&$gnation of a depoeitary $8 not neosaeary where the appointment it3expressly stated to oontinue until there is a newadvertisement for bide, Although there is authority to the contrary, it ie generally held’that, where the power to appoint ia given In general terms, the appointing authority cannot bind itself byappointing for any definite time, but hauat all times disoretionary. power of revocation; andunless there i$ axpreaa authoTi.ty **to** makea designation for a definite time, the ap’pointing power oannot makea binding appointment for a term extending beyond Lts ownterm of office, but the NOoessor has the right, on assuming the offfoe,
to make it8bwtl

doelgna tf01). 4

. .* Wethink that under the above mentioned etatutes there la ‘express authority to makea designation of a oounty depoeitory for a definite time namely, twc years. Andaa above etated, a statutory pro&ion requiring the aeleotion of a depository every twoyear@ hae been held mandatory* (In re CameronTrust Company, 51 3. W. (2d) 1025)Honorable 0, E. Pattsraon, Page 5

8or the purposes of this opinion, we must aasum that the oontraot between the bank and tha oounty i,s a valid andbinding oontraot and that it wanto oontinus ior a period of two ysars. TBe think that the above mentioned statutes and the OoAtraOt ltsali fir the term of the depository, and that

.euoh relation C?OAtiAtl68 for euoh time and oamot be~tenafnated at will by either party to the oontraot. Therefore, wareBpeotfully answer the above stated question inthe negative,

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers ycm inquiry, weare

Yours vary truly