R-710 

EA OWNEY GENERAL, 

TEXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

AITcJR?iEY GENERAL 

August 14, 1947 

Hon. Jos. B. Dart 

County Attorney 

Kendall County 

Boerne, Texas 

Opinion No. V-343 

Re: Is the sheriff, assessor and 

collector to be considered as 

one office in interpreting H. B. 

501, Ch. 204, 50th Legislature. 

Dear Sir: 

We refer to your letter of July 24, 1947, in which 

you requested an opinion of this Department, and in which the 

questions, we believe, msg be succinctly summarized as follows: 

Does H. B. 501 Chapter 204, Acts of 

the &kh Legislature 6. 3 1947, apply to 

counties having a poiulati;; of less than 

10,000 inhabitants? 

2. Are the offices of sheriff, assessor 

and collector of taxes to be considered one 

office in such counties? 

3. Is the sheriff allowed his automobile 

expenses in such counties, when acting in the 

capacity of assessor and collector of taxes? 

House Bill 501, supra, is as follows: 

"Section 1. The County Commissioners 

Courts of this State are directed to supply 

and pay for transportation of sheriffs of their 

respective counties and their deputies to and 

from points within this State, under one of the 

four (4) following sections: 

"(a) Such sheriffs and their deputies shall 

be furnished adequate motor transportation including all expense incidental to the upkeep and 

operation of such motor vehicles. 

"(b) Motor vehicles shall be furnished to 

such,sheriffs and their deputies who may furnish 

gas and oil, wash and grease, incidental to the 

operation of such vehicles; for which gas and oil, 

wash and grease, such sheriffs and deputies shall 
Hon. Jos. B. Dart - Page 2 (V-343) 

be compensated at a rate not to exceed four cents 

(4#) per mile for- each mile such vehfcl8 is 

operated in the performance of the duties of his 

off ice. 

“(c) Alternatively such County Commissloners 

Courts mug allow sheriffa and their deputies in 

their respective countlea to use and operate cara 

on official busineaa which cars are personally 

owned by them for which such officers ‘shall be 

paid not less than six centa (6$) per mile nor 

more than ten cents (lO$!) per mile for each mile 

traveled ln the performance of offlclal duties 

of their offioe. 

“(d) All compensation paid under the provisions of this Aot shall be upon a sworn statement of euch sheriff. 

“Sec. 2, The fact there ia nov no adequate 

law providing transportation for sherifis and 

their deputlee in the enforcement of the laws of 

the’ State creates an emergency and e case of imperative public necessity that the Constitutional 

Rule requiring bills to be read on three several 

daya in each House of the Legialature.be suapended, and said Rule is hereby suspended, and that 

this Act shall take effect and be in force from 

and after Its passage, and it la 80 enacted.” 

In view of the plain, clear, and unambiguous language 

in said Act, it is our opinion that the same applies to all 

oounties of this State, including those having a population 

of less than 10,000 inhabitants. .~ 

Ssotion 16 of Artiole VIII of the ConstitutLon is aa 

rollows : 

“The uherlff of eaoh oountg in additi.on to 

his other butlea ahall be the Assessor and Collector of Taxes therefor; but, in oountles having 

ten thoulrand (10,000) or more inhabitanta, to be 

determined by the last preoedLng oenaua of the 

United Btstes, an Assessor and Colleator of Tax08 

shall be eleoted to hold offloe for two (2) year8 

;Fedur$tfl his sucoesmortx shall be eleoted and quali- 

. 

Article 7246, V.C.S., 16 as follows: 
Hon. Jos. B. Dart - Page 3 (V-343) 

"In each county having less than ten thousand 

(10,000) inhabitants, the sheriff of such county 

shall be the Assessor and Collector of Tax,es, and 

shall have and exercise all the rights, powers and 

privileges, be subject to all the requirements and restrictions, and perform all the duties imposed by 

law upon assessors and collectors; and he shall 

also give the same bonds required of an assessor 

and collector of taxes elected." 

We quote from Texas Jurisprudence, Volume 34, page 447, 

a8 follows: 

"In some instances a public officer, by 

virtue of the fact that he holds the office to 

which he was elected or appointed, or ex officio, 

is authorized and required to exercise the powers 

and perform the duties of another office. In 

such a case the Supreme Court has said that the 

powers and duties of the officer, simply as such, 

are just as distinct from his powers and duties 

when acting in his ex officio capacity as if they 

were exer$ised by two different persons. 

. . . . . 

In view of the above, we believe that the offices of 

sheriff and assessor and collector of taxes in counties of less 

than 10,000 population are to be considered as one office. 

But in such counties the sheriff Is acting in a dual capacity. 

For instance, this Department in Opinion No. O-1051 held that. 

where a sheriff collects taxes, he is not filling two offices, 

but the sheriff Is simply performing duties that he is not 

required to perform in counties containing more than 10,000 

population. The opinion further held that the sheriff who 

performed the duties of assessor and collector of taxes ln 

counties having a population of less than LO,000 inhabltants 

was only entitled to draw the maximum fees allowed to the 

sheriff under the statutes. 

In answering Question No. 3, "whether the sheriff in 

such counties is entitled to automobile expenses when acting 

In the capacity of assessor and collector of taxes", we must 

look to Article 7246 and H.B. 501. It 1s apparentfrom the 

language in Article 7246, that the sheriff in counties with a 

populatlon of less than 10,000 inhabitants ls,to enjoy the 

rights and ~privileges and perform all the duties imposed upon 

assessors and collectors. We fail to find any provision where 

tax assessors and collectors are allowed automobile expenses, 

while assessing taxes. 
- . 

Hon. JOS. B. Dart - Page 4 (V-343) 

It is true that under H.B. 501, the sheriffs in such 

countfes are allowed automobile expenses while in the performance of~official duties. It ~111 be noted, however, in the 

$mergency clause of said Act, that It is for the purposes of 

providing transuortatlon for sheriffs and their deputies in 

the enforcement of the laws of the State." (Emphasis ours) 

We believe from the language used that clearly the 

Legislative intent was that this provision apply only to 

the sheriff when enforcing the law a~ sheriff, and not when 

he was assessing taxes. 

In view of the foregolng, you are respectfully advised that it Is the opinion of this Department that the'sheriff Is not allowed his automobile expenses under the provlsions of I-l. B. 501, supra, when acting in the capacity of assessor and collector of taxes. 

SUMMARY 

1. H. B. 501, Acts of the 50th Leg., R. S., 

1947, which allows automobile expenses to sheriff in the performance of his officlel duties, 

applies to all counties, -including those having 

a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants. 

2; In counties of less than 10,000 population, the positions of sheriff and assessor end 

collector of taxes are considered es one office. 

34 Tex. Jur. 447. 

3. The sheriff is not allowed his automobile expenses in such counties when acting in the 

capacity of assessor and collector of taxes. Art. 

7246, V.C.S.; H. B. 501, supre. 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

BA:djm:wc 

By s/Bruce Allen 

Bruce Allen 

Asslstant 

APPROVED: 

s/Fagan Dickson 

FIRST ASSISTANT