Ronorable Erwin W. Barton Opinion No. ~~-585 

Chairman 

Human Services Committee Re: Whether the county auditor or 

Texas House of Representatives the county treasurer is the county 

P. 0. Box 2910 payroll disbursing officer for, 

Austin, Texas 78769 purposes of Title llOB, V.T.C.S., 

governing public retirement systems 

Dear Representative Barton: 

- 

Title 1lOB. V.T.C.S., contains those statutes governing the 

creation and operation of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, 

the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial Retirement System 

of Texas, the Texas Count:{ and District Retirement System, and the 

Texas Municipal Retirement System. The various statutes governing the 

several systems provide that a payroll disbursing officer or employee 

for each employer collects member contributions by deducting such 

contributions from the compensation of each member that it employs. 

V.T.C.S. Title llOB, P525.402, 35.403, 55.403, 65.402. You wish to 

know whether, in counties of 10,000 or more population, the county 

auditor or the county trez.surer (in those counties which still have 

such officers) .is the county payroll disbursing officer for purposes 

of section 55.403 of Title 1lOB. V.T.C.S. We conclude that the proper 

officer is the county treasurer. We do not address the issue as to 

who is the proper disbursing officer or employee in those counties in 

which the office of county treasurer has been abolished. 

Section 55.403(e) of Title IlOB, V.T.C.S., provides the 

following: 

The treasurer or+sbursing officer of each participating subdivision shall: 

(1) make deductions from each member's compensation for contributions to the retirement 

system; 

(2) transmit monthly, or at the time designated 

by the board of trustees, the payroll and other 

pertinent information prescribed by the board; and 

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Honorable Erwin W. Barton - I?age 2 (JM-585) 

(3) pay the deductions to the board of 

trustees at the board's home office. (Emphasis 

added). 

We are required to construe section 55.403(e) in a way that 

expresses only the will of the makers of the law, 

not forced nor st.cained, but simply such as the 

words of the law in their plain sense fairly 

sanction and will clearly sustain. 

Railroad Commission of Texas v. Miller, 434 S.W.2d 670, 672 (Tex. 

1968). The very terms of ?he statute itself reposes the responsibility for making .employee .payroll deductions in-the treasure;, not 

the auditor; Texas law clearly makes the treasurer, not the auditor, 

the county disbursing offic,x. 

Article XVI, section 44, of the Texas Constitution provides, 

inter alla, that the legi$,lature shall prescribe the duties of the 

office of county treasurer. Article 1709, V.T.C.S., sets forth the 

duties of the county treasurer and provides in pertinent part that 

[tlh= County Trwsurer, as chief custodian of 

county finance, iwll receive all moneys belonging 

to the county fz,om whatever source they may be 

derived: keep anC1 account for the same in a 

designated depository or depositories; and pay and 

apply or disburse the same, in such manner as the 

Commissioners C&t may require or direct, not 

inconsistent with constituted law. (Emphasis 

added). 

Article 1709a, V.T.C.S., pr#rliding specifically for the receipt, 

keeping and disbursement of county funds, sets forth at section 

folliiwing in pertinent part: 

safe4 the 

From and after the effective date of this Act the 

County Treasurer & each county shall disburse a 

moneys belonging to the county, for whatever 

purpose they may-be claimed, and shall pay and 

apply the same ,u? required by law. No moneys 

shall be expend=7 or withdrawn from the county 

treasury except b:r checks or warrants drawn on the 

county treasury, whether such moneys are in a 

county depositor:r as required by law or not. 

(Emphasis added). 

V.T.C.S. art. 1709a, 94. 

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Honorable Erwin W. Barton - :?age 3 (JM-585) 

Article 1651, V.T.C.S., sets forth the duties of the county 

auditor and provides that 

[t]he Auditor sh,l:Ll have a general oversight of 

all the books and records of all the officers 

of the county, district or state, who Mayo be 

authorized or required by law to receive or 

collect any~money, funds, fees, or other property 

for the use of, or belonging to, the county. . . . 

See also V.T.C.S. arts. 1653, 1709a. 

The word "disburse" gen'erally denotes "pay" or "expend." Woodford 

v. United States, 77 F.2d 861, 865 (8th Cir. 1935); Wall v. Close, 14 

So.2d 19, 36 (La. 1943); see also People v. Battin, 143 Cal. Rptr. 731 --- 

(Cal. Ct. App. 1978); Browx v. Honiss, 68 A. 150 (N.J. 1907). It is -- 

clear from an even cursory reading of section 55.403 of Title 1lOB; 

V.T.C.S., that the county treasurer is the proper officer to deduct 

member contributions because he is the officer whose responsibility it 

is to "disburse" county funds. This conclusion is consistent with 

earlier attorney general o:?inions that discuss the- various responsibilities of the county treasurer and the county auditor. 

In Attorney General O~~inion V-1387 (1952), this office was asked 

whether a commissioners cour't could require a county auditor to handle 

payroll deductions, accounts, and reports regarding social security 

for county employees. The opinion held that 

[u]nder the above authorities and articles [setting 

forth the duties of the county treasurer and the 

county auditor] we agree with you that it is the 

duty of the coun:y treasurer to assess the amount 

of the contribui:ions necessary from the various 

county employees, to collect this amount, and to 

transmit same to the state agency. We further 

agree that under article 1651, V.C.S., the county 

auditor is required to check, compare, and audit 

the social secweity services of the county 

treasurer, and to certify the results to the proper 

officials. 

In Attorney General Opinion V-711 (1948), this office was asked 

whether the county auditor, pursuant to the duties imposed by article 

1656a. V.T.C.S., had tht! authority to deduct employees' soup 

insurance premiums from enployees' salaries when so authorized by 

employees. Citing the above statute setting forth the duties of the 

county auditor, this office 'held that 

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Honorable Erwin W. Barton - I?age 4 (JM-585) 

[i]n view of the foregoing provision, neither the 

collection nor the deduction of the contributions 

from the salaries of the county employees constitutes any functimi of the County Auditor. . . . 

The collection and deduction should be performed 

by the proper couxty officer who issues the checks 

on the County Tr,easurer for the payment of the 

salaries of the employees included in the group 

insurance plan. 

. 

See also Attorney General 0p:Lnion WW-1107 (1961). 

Accordingly, we conclude that the proper county payroll disbursing officer for purpos'zs of Title IlOB, V.T.C.S., is the county 

treasurer rather than the cxmty auditor. 

SUMMARY 

In counties with a population of 10,000 

inhabitants or rare, the proper county payroll 

disbursing officer for purposes of Title llOB, 

V.T.C.S., is the county treasurer rather than the 

county auditor. 

Very J truly yours 

& 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

JACK HIGBTOWER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

MARY KELLER 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Jim Moellinger 

Assistant Attorney General 

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