OFFICE OF THE AmORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Xelrin Combs 

COule~ AtAoraq 

Jer~r80n count7 

Beaumont, axu 

Dou air1 

A 

.oplnlcn lo. O-30 

R.1 aalar 

7!t 

+ @P 7tu 

UU Ox-8 o f Jo i l r Do a 

a o unty . 

Your requert 

carefully oonaldrrsd br thlr 

your requert u follov8: 

"5. In coiitiea having .a population of 

one hundred thousand and one ‘(100,001) a~ld zlot 

ZC:E thar oz~e h.xiZred and fifty thoueand 

(l’jO,OOO) lnhabitantr, firat assirtant or chief 
Bonorrble Nelvin Coabr, ?age 2 

deputy not to l a eed Tventy-rix Eundred 

(~2600.00) Dollar8 per annum~ herd8 of dep.wtmentr may be aloved by the Co8m18810ner81 

Court, vhen In their judgment ruoh allovanoe 

18 juottlled, the 8um of Tvo Hundred ($200.00) 

Dollar8 per annum in addition to the amount 

herein Gloved, vhen ruoh he& of department8 rota&t to be rppolnted rhsll have meriowl~ rewed th8 oountr or pollt~.oal rub- 

~dlvl8lon thereof for not lerr than tvo oon- 

%lnuow rearmj other l r r lr tmdeputier nt~, 

or olerkr no% to l oeed Tventy~three liundred 

(~2300.00) Dollar8 per annum l aoh." 

The main problem prorented by the quertlon rubmlttcd 

18 vhether the word8 "rhall hare prevlou8ly rerved the oounty 

or pollbltal rubdlvlrlon thereof ior not lerr than tvo contlnuour yeara" l hould be oonstrued to tiean tvo oontlnuour yearm 

next preoediq the ~ppolntunt, or m tvo oontixkuou8 year8 

sedlng the appointment. 

Where the 8tatutory language 18 uablguoum or.admlta 

of~more t&m one mimning, It la to be taken In ruoh ti 8epIe a8 

vi11 oo&iform to the l oop e and intent of the A&, and vi11 beet 

or rort eertalnly l aoompllmh It8 purpole vlthout do- violence 

to plain rtrtutory language. A oonrtruotlon that vlll unduly 

limit it8 plain purpome, ~111 be &voided If po88ible. 39 Ter. 

hr. pp. 218-219. 

In permitting the payment of a larger 8alarf to the 

head of a department rho 'rhall have prevlourlj rerved the 

oounty or polltloal rubdlvlrlon thereof for not 1088 than tvo 

contlnuour year8 , ” ve believe the bglrlature intended that a 

head of a deparwt with prevlour experience in oounty mattera 

rhould be entitled to a larger 8alary than an inexperienced 

person. 

By requiring the prevloua aervioe to be “not leas 

than tvo continuous yearr” ve bellwve the Iaglrlsture Intended 

to set a minimum length of experience required to qualify an 

appoLntee to the additional salary, and to eliminate those 

persms vhose previous service totaled tv3 years blz:t VZS were 
. - 

Sonorable llelv%n Corbm, F8gm 3 

employed only periodically. It 18 a matter of ._ . . . --. - ._ , oommon knkwledge ._ - - tnat 0ertu.n orrioerm or tne county governmnt, partruuariy 

the tax l 88e88or-oolleotor, require extra help during oertain 

rumh p8riOdD. 

To oonrtrue the vordr in quertlon am reanlng tvo 

ooAtl.Auoua yearm the 

a~ Undue limitat 

bppolntment vould be plrolng 

purpore o? -the rtatute. 8uoh a oon8truotloA~vould l lialtnite sum7 able 8en rith mny year8 o?~ 

oontlnuow rerrloe . 8uoh a oonrtruotlon vould alma prerent a 

rerlour quertlon am to the le 

offloe on Sa~uary 1 1941, 

d 

tF 

h of time that UL offloer taking 

oo d valt before appointing the 

head8 o? the 8eTer departmEnta without having the tvo OOAtiAUOU8 p-8 AeXt preOedi~ the ~ppOb¶tmeAt interrupted Duifieientlf to make ruoh propored appointee8 ineligible to qualify 

for the additional salary. It vould tend to penallre the offleer vho moat oarefulry and dellberately~attempted to appoint 

the beat qwlifimd per8on8. We oannot apee that thm purpore 

of the rtatute IA quertlan ju8tlfler rush a lirlted oenrtruotlon, 

It 18 our Opinion, therefore, that the VOrdD "Dhrll 

have prerlourly rerved the OouAtJ or politioal 8ubdi~i8ioA thereOf ?Ol! AOt le~88 t&M tV0 OOllti.!NlOUD ~e~8,’ in 8OOtiOA 5 O? ktiele 3902, mupra, rhotid be eonrtruod am meuii.ng x tvo eontlnuow~m preeed.bg the appointrent. 

You are, thereform, rempeotf~l~ 8dvLred that it ia 

the oplnlo~ of thlr department, under the futr rtated, that 

thm 88lm7 of the ohle? deputy cannot legally l x o eed th8 mum of 

~2600.00 and that the malu7 of the other doputr, haad of the 

autaaoblle tax department, cannot legally l xoeed the rum of 

$2500.00 per uinu8. 

Your8 very truly 

ATTORHEY GElfERAL OF TEXAS 

EP:RS 

BY 

Edgar Pfeil 

Assistant 

APPROVED MAR 19, 1941 

/a/ Oerald C. &DA 

ATTOREEY 0ElGM.L OF TEXAS 

This Opinion Conridered and 

Approved in Llmlted Con?erenoe