OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

aoeunlw 

eal help in an 

bondid lndabtadout a'rohakule of 

t in that ~rtloulu 

that part of the 

y pay* and not part or the 

State pay8 iron th? prooqdlr ot thr 

n.0 tax, In order that mob botdd 

loh must be pnld from aounty Wada 

ed tat0 $he ~earb when the rewnu~m, 

aad p~flalonm of .aald Bowr Bill 

.flslont to pay mtBh lnQebtedmr8T" 

'We thlnlr the toreLqbl#ig question pre84ntt two ~lrrbJesli. 

matterr the fimt being 

the autfklt 

---~whathex OT not the oowtty lane 

ti retali or siq&oy teehnioal ~btM1 ia an advisory oapao I ty in ana2yslng the bouQoQ. lndeb t&o.* ef the 

Bltnty, and wwldng out a Mhebale ai raiasbty: of a. road 

bond (lebt ia tmt partiaalar obanbr, and aemnd, the quertien 
Eonorable B. U. WhIteacre, page #e 

melas to inquire es to whether or not that part of the debt 

which the county pays, and not that pert or the debt v&i& 

the State pays rrom the prooeeds of the one-cent gasolhe 

tax, can be separated into twe types of debts, namely, 

eligible and ineligible. 

In treating of the firet subjeot matter ralsed in 

your question, that IS, as to the authority of the oounty to 

e~@oY technloal help for the purpose stated in pour qumt&m, 

we epproaoh the subjeot by stating the well recognlsed rule 

tbst the mnimis~sloners* court, the governing body of the oountY, 

is a court OS limited jurisdiction end has only such powers a8 

are oontarred upon It by law. The rule has been extended to 

empower the conmlsaloners’ oourt to appoint agents ror the 

aooompllshmnt of purposes authorized by law. A majority of 

the oases touohlng upon this queetlon involve the emploYme& 

af attorney6 at law end it has orten been held that an attorney 

may be retained In speclcl cams ror speoirlo services but that 

the..eourt would not have the puwer to employ an attorney on a 

salary basis for aervloes neither required nor performed. See 

3% S. W. 188, droouis va. Atasoasa County; also City Natlonul 

Benk vs. Freslbbo County, B6 S. W. 775, Jones vs. Peltman, 

171 9. pi. 281. ‘.In the 0888 or Russell vs. Cage, 1 S. f. 270, 

the Supreme Court held thst an arohftect may be emploYed te 

prepare plmts and speCiriestiOn8, make 6i dreft Or a OOntreOt, 

and,make the oontraot itfSelr, subjeot to the approval of the 

0011PDissionerli* court. In the oe8e or Gull Bltulithle Co-Y 

vati Wueoea County, reported in 11 S. F. (td) 505, the Supreme 

Court sustained the validity of a contract enploylng a supervisor of roed building, and ‘in an earlier oese, Galveston 

county vs. Greehm, 230 5. 19. 660, the court held thst the 

oomalerrlonere~ court hed the power to employ an attorney to 

onrry out its power to oonrtruot a seawall. 

It aust be borne in mind that all of the foreROiD.iS 

authorities construe to the oomm%ssloners* oourt the authority 

to employ egents only for thb aooomplishment of apeciifc objeotlves, and that the general trend of authority denies the 

pwer to the oonmlssionere* oourt to employ agents one saleY 

or oontreet basis ror the performmoe of 6ervices that mW or 

mey not be required during the course of their emploYme%+- 

Quoting the court ln the aase oi$,he City Hational Bank vspresidio County, 80 S. 1. 775 -We conclude for these 

reaaona that the employment 0r oounnel in the oass ot State 

vs. Cqrothers, wus a legal esecalse OS pwer on the Part ef 
Houorable B. If. Wteaarre, page #6' 

the aommlesloners~ oourt dons in the interest ind buslaess of 

the aounty." This oass was datermined in I.894 by the Court 

of Cltil Appeals end IntlldeteS that the aommlssioners* oourt 

could t%lldly ezerolse the powem of smploying agents IX done 

in the lntsrest end business OS the aounty. The question as 

to the lmportsnoe Of the servloe. ta be performed must WOWs+rllybe a question of Seat to be determined by the aomm%ssibners~ aourt . we, thererore, conalude thst while thsre 18 

so express autharitatlon for the employment of teohnfaal adrisots for thd purpose oi es8lstlng the aounty in the mfundlng OS its road debt, we think the welgfit ot authoritp~d 

igplr that power to the a6msdssloners~ aourt it the mCsndlng 

was OS' suffloient ~lmportanae to make its aooompllshment fital. 

to the interest of the asunty end la arah a msnneras to.sls881- 

fy suoh SerTfo~e as being for a ootmty purpose, but that ,io no 

awant muu.lU the. 6ourt bare the- autlmrity to oontra'ot ‘for the 

ssnioes of a te6hnfeal expert for a *ad psrbd at 4 gl~en 

6uliu-y ti6 pertons’ duties whtoh may or may xt?t. be reed..’ 

. 

Xert ws otmsti~ the seoond sul&et mettar a&a&g 

%n ‘jour first qirest$~,n, and that lb,. de&her Or not a partisu~ 

.l%ri+aue oi bontls maybe.tsgarded as.partly eligIb$s and p6rt4 

lusl.Qlble;~ln'othsxworifs. aan that par;t or the issue which 

p%rt%ofpates,iti th4,County ard Road Distriot .Xighway Fu%d.be 

oonsldened apart irfm the balanas.of such issue whiah does not 

psrtlslpste 11% suoh~ Suud. We are or the oplnlon thst'no'woh 

oharaoter aan W imputed to an issue unUer the terms or Boxme 

Bill 688. Suoh issue must be aoxisidered as a uuit and that all 

bond8 ooraposlng sime.partlalpste ratably throughoat in the benefit aooorded.under this law.~ In support of this aonalugion we 

quotg from tibseotlon (01. of Sestim 6 of .Zfouse Bill 6SS, which 

ra+ds, In part: i 

Vheneter ii the oase of any~partioular fssue 

or obligations the prooeeds. thhreot shall here been 

erpeittled partly on designated State highways or 

highway* her&ofore oonstitut+ug desl&nated State 

highways, ad partly on roads whloh never here been. 

designated State klghwsys, said Board shall SSOertsin 

and-determine the smonnt of said obllgstliiss, the proeked8 of whish tire actually etpsnded oti State high-' 

rays o$,on roads,heretoiore aoustituttig State +gh-: 

ways, sud sald.o~ligat+5,to -said amount and extent 
Honorable B.,, HI, WhItesore, page #4 

shall be eligible for prtlolptlon in ths moneys 

oaaing Into the County and Boad Distrlot Eighwsy 

?'Und, and said asoertelnmest and detezlinatlon 

shall be certified to the oountp judge by said 

Board and all of the nnmtured OutStanding obligetiOn ofTid lsst~e shall ratsbl hate the benefit of said partlolpatIon in dney se ." 

This same subseotlon StStbS subrtantlallp that following suoh esoertalnment by the Board end after nesonsbls 

notiee and hserlng thereon, the dete&atIon shall be fiml 

end oonoluslte and shsll not be subjeot to review in any 

other tribunal. We think thia~conelusion le further strengthsnod by the language or subseotion (g) or Ssotlon 6, vihloh, 

to state it brlsfly, requires tha oountles te oolleottaxes. 

ontho poparty in said ,respeot$te etnmtlee end dsflnod road 

distriots in an amount o? money equal to the dlfferenes betwesn the amount of the requlremsat end the emount etellebls 

far.epplIoatlon from the gssollne~tax inuring to the County 

and Road District Ziighway.Fund, and that the entire poceeds 

of all taxes collected on any eligfble lssiie ot bonds shall 

be rsmlttsd by the County Tm3aStWU~or eaoh aoonnty oolleotls& 

th'same to the Stat8 Treasurer to be hsld by the State Treasuror 88 ez-orffolo treasurer of said 'county or ddined road 

Uistriet for the benefit'tif the oarmty or defined rosd distriot remIttine the same and be dlsburesd to meet the lstsrest, principal and sinking fWnd requIremen% on the ellgLbXe 

obllgatlons OS such oounty ore defined road dlstrlct. Whsn thb 

monsy frem the eountp Tar any partlcular~ interest or principal 

mstnrlty, togefher with that supplied @rough the County sob 

Road Dlstrlct Highv@y Fund, are used ror tht pSySient thoreeS 

@n suoh eligible obllgatlons,'it beoomes the duty OS the 

Oomptroller OS Fubllo Accounts upeh receipt of said obligatitans and OOUJXGW, to catioel themand return same to the 

oomdsaloners* oourt of the partlo*ar oounty, and which 

aourt shall ceusa to be duly entered a reoord of suoh Cancellation. It therel'ora follows that this law does not 

oontwplate a ditlslon of obligat$cias whereby'ons pert of 

which could be called ellglble land the other ~nellgible. 

The law expressly oonfera upon th.9 Board the right to requlre any Issue or any part ther&?f.to be refunded IntO 

rsrundlng obligations,' bearing @toh iate of Interest and 

having such maturities as will pi?eyent an fnequitable or 
Howrable B. &I. WhlteaOX$ page #5 

disproportionate partlolpatlon in the money oo=tnng Into the 

Cow&y end Road Dlstrlot Highway Ftmd in any particular 

pulod. This lauguage we rind in subseatlon (I) of 8eotlon 

6 of the law, to whlah you are referred. 

Your seoond queition reads es follows: 

*If it were shown by the.county that the 

refunding 0s thiit part or its road bond debt 

whleh the oounty levies en ad valorem tax to 

pay oould and would be retired at the dates 

of prrrturities and that the reveuues under the 

terms aud provisions of House Bill 688were 

snttlolent -to smet kmoh maturltles, muld it 

be nesessary for suah oounty to hate the 

approval of the Board of Coustyaud Dlstrlot 

Road ,tidebtedness to effbot suoh.rerunding?~ 

In Opinion Xkmber 04399, ~endared by this depthasntlhresponse to eti~uesttromt,heBoardof Countyend 

MM&et Road~Iudebtedurms, ws oarefulXy covers6 the refund-' 

i.n&$dutleci impose Open the Board by Emse Bill 688~ Brtsfly 

our $ntUpretetioti 0S that.'provls~on is to the ertsot that 

tha Boa&*8 duty.titl& raspeat to the refunding’of bonds e% 

.t8nd6 onlfto ~8~S‘of bonds sll&ble to parti%lpate in 

~ttlm3m3a3~beneflt~ or t214 gasoline tax 0s one oent sUosated 

'Eerelnabove we have outlined our conaluslon es 

to What oonsktutes eligible obllgatlbns and, in haniumyulth 

lmoh oonoluslon, re.must advise that it la our oplklonthat 

auy suoh roa$ debt %s is desorlbed In your seaond q+z#tlon 

which the countymay.seek to refund must necessarily be'submlt+ed to.the.Board for approval prior to etfecting such 

rerundlng., As stat?d in Oplnloq.?wber 0-1295, above referred to, the expense or ally suoh refunding must llketisd 

'be subml$te$ to the @ard for %p,proval prior to lnaurrlug 

s%me* 

'Re are enclosing herewith a copy of our OplniOn 

'.Efuu&Gr O-1895, la the hepa that same aU prove 0s 84x8 

benefit to you end assist you in solving so? of t&e problems arising out of House Blll'688. . 

Very truly y&r&