OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

AUSTIN



### aoeunlw

ealhelpinan **bondid lndabtad**  **out** 

### a'rohakule

of t inthat~rtloulu thatpartof the ypay*andnotpartor the Statepay8ironth?prooqdlr 

### ot thr **n.0 tax,**  **In order**  

### that**mob botdd**  

### lohmustbe pnldfromaountyWada ed tat0$he~earbwhentherewnu~m, aadp~flalonm of .aald Bowr Bill .flslont

topay mtBhlnQebtedmr8T"

'Wethlnlr

the toreLqbl#ig

questionpre84ntttwo ~lrrbJesli. 

### matterr thefimt being theautfklt ---~whathex OT not the oowtty lane



### tiretalior siq&oyteehnioal ~btM1 iaan advisoryoapao

Ity in 

### ana2yslng

the bouQoQ.

lndeb t&o.* ef the Bltnty,andwwldng outa Mhebale ai raiasbty:of a. road 

### bond(lebt



### ia

## tmt partiaalar

obanbr,and **aemnd,** 

### the quertienEonorable 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

## twetypes of debts, namely, eligible and ineligible.

In treating of the 

### firet subjeotmatter ralsed in 

### yourquestion, 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 governingbody of the oountY, is a court OS limited jurisdictionend has only suchpowers a8


### are oontarred 

### upon It by law. The rule has been 

### extendedto 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 servicesbut that the..eourt

would not have the puwer to employ an attorney on a salarybasis for aervloesneither 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 arohftectmay be emploYed te prepare plmts and speCiriestiOn8, make 6idreft 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 super

### visorof roed building, and ‘inan 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 oontreetbasis ror the performmoe of 6ervices thatmW 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 oounnelin the oass ot State
vs. Cqrothers,wus a legal esecalse OS pwer on the Part efHouorable B. If.Wteaarre, page #6'

the aommlesloners~ oourt dons in the interest ind buslaess of the aounty." **This** oass was datermined in I.894by the Court 

### of CltilAppealsend IntlldeteSthat 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 **WOW** s+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 

### teohnfaaladrisots for thd purpose oi es8lstlng the aounty in the 

### mfundlng OS its road debt, we think the welgfitot 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’

### dutieswhtohmay 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 bontlsmaybe.tsgarded as.partly eligIb$s and 

### p6rt4 lusl.Qlble;~ln'othsxworifs. aan that par;tor the issue which p%rt%ofpates,iti

### th4,Countyard Road Distriot .XighwayFu%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 

### imputedto an issue 

### unUer the terms or Boxme Bill 688. Suoh issue must be aoxisideredas a uuit and that all bond8 ooraposlngsime.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.

### thhreotshall 

### herebeen 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 otiState high-' rays o$,on roads,heretoiore aoustituttig State +gh-: ways, sud sald.o~ligat+5,to -saidamount and 

### extentHonorable B.,, HI, WhItesore, page #4

shall be eligible for 

### prtlolptlon in ths 

### moneys oaaing Into the County and Boad Distrlot Eighwsy ?'Und, and said asoertelnmestand detezlinatlon shall be 

### certifiedto the oountp judgeby said Board and all of the 

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

This same subseotlon StStbS subrtantlallp that following suoh esoertalnmentby the Board end after nesonsbls notiee 

### and hserlng thereon, the dete&atIon shall be fiml end oonoluslteand 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 

### oountleste oolleottaxes. ontho poparty in said ,respeot$te etnmtlee end dsflnod road distriots in an 

### amounto? money equal to the dlfferenes be

### twesnthe 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 'countyor 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 oredefined road dlstrlct. 

### Whsnthb monsy frem the eountpTar 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,'itbeoomes 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'onspert of which could be called ellglble landthe 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 

### havingsuch maturities as will 

### pi?eyent an fnequitableorHowrable B. &I.WhlteaOX$ page #5

disproportionatepartlolpatlon in the money oo=tnng Into the Cow&y end Road Dlstrlot Highway Ftmd in any particular pulod. This lauguagewe rind in subseatlon (I) of 8eotlon 6 of the law, to 

### whlahyou are referred.

Your seoond queitionreads 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** reveuuesunder the terms aud provisions of House Bill 688were snttlolent -tosmet 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

'Eerelnabovewe have outlined our conaluslones to What oonsktutes eligibleobllgatlbns 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 necessarilybe'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 allysuoh refundingmust llketisd 'be subml$te$to the @ard for %p,proval prior to lnaurrlug s%me*

'Reare 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&