OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable I. Prodsold 

County Auditor, Ualvsstoa Gounty 

Oalrerton; +xas 

D4ar Sirs 

Your letter of April 

o? this departmat whether the 

tlon .0oaaty maf amend the oo 

ahsrirf with l ëja iL olerk (a 

per month. The dutisa of th 

aooouats an4 books and other 

ruporTiiolon or M 

0 083 to provide the. 

at a ralsry of $165.00 

e mkecrplng all reootaa, 

and to have general 

by a guard tltlr4,g 

have been perrormed. 

ry of $1~0.00 per month. 

or 1~si4 otf;oe; and said oourt rbrll maks it8 order authorlabg th8 ap ointment or suoh drputles, cresirtants 

end olerkr and rs x the ooapenaation to be paid theni 
Honorable I. Prsdeoki, page 2 

within the llmitetlone herein preeorlbed and determine the number to be appointed aa in the dlsoretlon of said oourt may be proper; provided that 

In no oaae shell the Commls8lonerb’ Court or any 

member thereof attempt to ln~lnenoo the appointment 

or any poraon ea deputy, aesI&ant or olerk in any 

0fri0e.- upon the entry 0r euoh order the orrioOr0 

applying for euoh eesletante, deputies or olerka 

shall be euthorlzed to appoint them1 provided that 

said oompeneatlon &all not exoeed the maximum amount 

hereinafter #et out. The otipensetlon whioh may be 

allowd to the deputies, asdetents or olerke above 

named for their servloea 8hell be a reeaonable one, 

not to exoeed the following amount@: l * * 

l **t 

“4. In oounties having a population 0r rixty 

thousand and one (60,001) and not more than one h-red 

thousand (100,000) lnhabltente, rirat assistant or ohier 

depty not to exoeed Twenty-four Hundred (#2400.00) Dollerr per annum; other asslrtants, deputies or olerkr 

not to exoeed Twenty-one Hundred (#2100.00) Dollars per 

annum eaoh.” 

The 1940 Federal Census lists Galveston County as having a population oi 81,173 inhabitants, and the oountythererore oomea wlthin the provisiona of the etatute above quoted, allowing the Commleslonersf Court to authorlje the employment of olerka at a 

ralery not to exoeed Twenty-one nurdred (#2100.00) Dollars per 

annum. 

Although we have advised that the Commlasloners~ Court 

ie authorized by law to allow the sheriff a olerk for the duties 

deaoribed, It remaina to be determined whether this new position 

may be introduced into the 1941 budget by amendment at thle time. 

Artlole 689a-11, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, 

reads, in pert, a8 follows: 

“* l * When the budget hae been finally approved 

by the Commissionera Court, the budget, aa approved 

by the Court shall be filed with the Clerk or the County 

Court, and taxes levied only in aooordanoe therewith, 

ena no expenditure or the funds of the oounty shall 

thereafter be made exoept In atrIot oompllanoe with 

the budget ee adopted by the Court. Bxoept that emergenoy expenditurea, in ease of grave 

P 

ubllo neoessity, 

to meet unusual and unforeseen oondit one whloh oould 

not, by reasonably dili 

been lnoluded in the or f 

ent thought and attention, have 

glnal budget, may from timo to 

time be authorized by the Court a8 amendmente to the 

original budget. * * ** 
874 

This 6opartaont ha8 puli $imer held that what 

oonatltutaa ugar8 publib n~Oaa8lt~" a8 that tern ia uae6 in 

Art1010 689~ll, dopaada upoa the ?aOts in l eoh oaaa and la 

a queatioa for th(l priur~ dotrrainatlon of the oeamiaaloner8~ 

oourt. in the l xerolaa of it8 pruaont judgment. 8aa our Opinion8 

~05, o-ioaa, o-iofy ~6 o-uar. 

We thwaiorb adrlao that it liar wlthla the prorinoa 

of the omdaalonarat oourt te dotrrmlaa tha rarta reapootlng 

the u4 f Wnae of a &rata pub110 neoeaalt~ 80 that the budget 

ma~rlv?ully be aaondad to provide to? the pobltiolr of jail 

. 

JDS:lW 

Tour8 rety truly 

ATTOBWBY -O?TBXAS 

- 

“‘Jib D. kl1.m 

Aaalatant