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PRICE DANIEL *wrol?- (Immza*l.

~... , Bovember 8;1951

..~ . ? Eon. W. L;'Powell OpinionRo. V-1338 _,: countp ~Allditoi-

~- ,, ,~. Jim Wells County Rer Obligation 'ofone &bunts Alice, Texas EO~kha‘rki ifitheisalary of
a 'secretarJi fw'the dist?iht attorneg~when the threeother 'countiesin the-ju?li%ial'~dititrlbttive Dear Sir: undertaken their shares.

Your request for an opinion reads as follows:
"The' C'omi'ssi~hers

Court of Jim Wells County; Texas has requested this office to ask for 'anopinion from your department on the following:

'IsJim Wells County automatically bound to pay its pro-rata share of the salary of the Secretar'y to the District Attorney when said sd.aQ has beGnapproved by the combinedmajority of~the comniissioners'courts camprisinghis Judlcial district.'
'The 'factssurroundingthis request are as follows:

,. "InJuly of thisyear, Jim Wells County received a'request~ from the dlstrict attorney for ap$n%val of its'prorata share of the salary~ofhis steno-" grapher which had been'authorizedby an act of the last legislature. The'budget for 1952was thenbeing prepared~and the request wasincorporated therein. Thb 1952 budget was adopted insSeptember and the salary of the stenographerwas authorized to begin on January 1, 1952. ~~ "A request similar to the one submitted to Jim Wells County was also submitted to the CommissionersCourt of theHon. W. L. Pove1l.i page 2 (v-1338)

other tliree

‘cdtitiSs^

con&&sl&j’lils ” Judlcial~dlatri~t~aird these~btherdourts authorlied the payment 'of'thesalary to begin on September 1, 1951.
"This office 'nowhas a letter from the District'Attorney~whiEh'expresses the opinion that, inasmuch as the salary has been approvedby three of the four counties comprislng’hisJudicial dis;. trict, 'JimWells-Courjty~lsautomatically bound by the actionof the majority of'the ~tionnnissloners courts and should be@ paying its pro+ata, share of the salary on September
on January 1, 1952."1, 1951 rather than

The 79th~

Judicial District~is composed of' the counties of Starr, Brooks, Duval, and Jim Wells. Art. 199 (79).,

V.C.S.

Ch. 355, Senate Bill 212;Acts 52nd Leg.,RrS. 1951,

p. 517 (codified as Article 326-K-19.V.C.S.) provides: .

"Section 1. Any dis'trict attorney In the State of Texas in a judicialdistrict containing two (2)~ or more 'counties is authorized~to

~employa stenographernor clerk who~~shall

receive 'a'salarynotto exceed Twenty-four Hundred ($2,400.00) Dollars per annum, to~be fixed by the dlstrlct attorney and approved by the co% bined majority of the CommissionersCourts of the counties '6omposing his judicial district. The salary of such stenographer or clerk provided for in thisAct shall be paid monthly by the Commissioners-Court of each county compos%ng thenjudicialdistrict, pro-rated apportionately to the ?opulatlon of the county."
chitwas held inAttorney General's Opinion V-1314 (1951) that it was mandatory~that a stenographer or clerk employed by B dSstrFct attorney under'the provisions of Senate Bill,212 be p&&d a'reasonable salary not to exceed $2400.00 per annum.Hon. W. L. Powell, page 3 (V-1338)

The prerequisites for payment of the salary 

### of such stenographer'or clerk are that the Sal-, ary be fixed by the district attorney and approved by the "combinedmajority of the commissioners courts of the counti'es

cOmposlng his Judicial District." Since the salary has been fixed by the district at-~ torney of the 79th Judicial District and has been approved by the combinedmajority of the cormnissioners courts of the Counties of Starr, Eirooks, Duval, and Jim Wells, it is mandatory that such'salary 'be paid monthly by the commissioners1 court of each county composing the Judicial District pro-rated apportlonately to the population of the county? Under the facts set out In your request, Jim Wells County is required~to pay its pro-rata part of the salary from September 1, 1951.

SUMMARY

Under the provisions of Senate i3il.l. 312,Acts 52nd Leg., R.S. 1951, ch. 355, p. ‘17, authorizing the districtattorney Ln certain judicial districts to appoint
a stenographer or clerk, it ismandetory that the salary which has been fixed by the district attorney ,?nd approvedby the combine? :lejorityof the commissioners' courtsbe pa:d monthly bv the commissioners' court of each county composing the judicial district, pro-rated according to the population of the county.

APPROVED: Yours very truly,

J. C. Davis ?RICE DANIEL CountyAffairs Division Attorney General

Everett Hutchinson Executive Assistant
Charles D. Mathews First Assistant Assistant

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