^ ..-.-

Honorable

Thphamas L.Blenton,Jr. County Attorney 8baokelfOrd county Albany,Texas Dear Six-r opinion NO. o-6404 Rer Canpeneatlon

of the deputise of the Sheriff

who is also the AeeeeeorColleotor of Taxee, and othermatters. Ymr letterof January 24, 195, requesting the opinionof this Department

regarding

the matters

mentionedtherein,ie in part, aa follows% "The auditor

who has auditedour ouuntybooka ham brou&t up oertaiu legal question6 in oonneotlon

with the admlnietration

of our oountybuaineee uponwhioh, a8 CountyAttorney, I would like to get oplnlonafran your offioe. *The population

of Shaokelford

County'ialea8 than 25,000 inhabitants, and the total tiaes~ed~valnatione are approrkuately

&',000,000~00.Ihe offlob of 'Sheriff, Tax Asaeesor, and Tax Collector, IE ofanbined

into one offioe,and held by one individual. Vor a number of yeare prior to the eleotion of the presentoffioer,

and aleo prior to my becoming County Attorney,

the feee of the deputies employed

by the Sheriff, Tax Assessorand Ta Colleotor, were paid by the,Oounty Treasurer

out of the GeneralFund, and all fees of office were paid into the County Treasury. "The auditor,

who has just audited the oountybooks, objects to this prooedure, and hae advised the Ccmrmieelonere' Court that the deputies of thle office

muat be paid out of the feea of office and that their compensation 18 limited to the fees of office. *In thl6 connection, the offioer

who holdn the cabinedHonorable ThomasL. Blanton,Jr., Page 2 (O-6404)

offioe of Sheriff,

Tax Aaserjaor,

and Tax Colleotor, is Mr. Charlee

H. Arendt. He has amployed under him as deputiesthe following: Mr. John Hightower, Chief Deputy Sheriff,

at a ealary of $1800.00 per year;Mr. F3uoryMorris, Deputy Sheriffat Moren, Texas,at a salary of $1800.00 a year;Mr, R. S. Plnmmer, Chief Deputy Tax Asseeaor, at a salary of $1800.00

per year;Mrs. EadineBrewster, Assistant Deputy Tax Colleotor, et a salary of $1200.00 per year. "All of these salaries have heretofore

been paid by the County Treasurer out of the Oeneral

Fund of Shaokelford County,and during 1944 the fees of the reepeotive offices did not quitemeet the amounta necessary

to pay the respective salaries,

and that of the Sheriff himself.

. . . .* We thank you for the brief submitted with your inquiry. Shackelford Countyhas a population of 6,211 inhabitants aooording

to the 190 Federal Censue and the County offioiala of said County are oompeneated on a fee basic for their offioial

servicea. In countiee

having a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants according

to the last preceding censusof the United States, the Sheriffof each of such countiesin additionto his other duties shall be the Assessor and Collector

of Taxes therefor. (Art. 8 Sec. 16 of the State Constitution; Art. 7246,VaA.C.S.)

Art. 3902,V.A.C.S., provideain part: I

. * e *thecompensation whiohmay be allowed the deputies,

assistants

or clerksabovenamed for their services

shall be a reasonable one, not to exceed the following

emonnts: "1. In counties

having a population of Twenty-five Thousand (25,000)

or less inhabitants, first asaietant

or Chief Deputynot to exoeed Eighteen

Hundred ($1800.00) Dollarsper annum;other assistants, deputies

or clerks

not to exceed

Fifteen

Hundred ($1300.00)

Dollarsper annum each.

Art. 3899,V.A.C.S., providesin part: "

. s a . The amount of salaries paid to aesiatants and deputiesshall alao be clearlyahownby such officer, giving the neme, position, and amountpaid each3 and in noHonorable Thomas L. Blanton,

Jr., page 3 (O-6404)

event shall any officershow any greateramount than actually

paid any such assistant or deputy, The amount of such expenses,

together

with the amount of salaries paid to assistants, deputies,

and clerks shall be paid out of the fees earned by euoh officer

. . . ." We have carefully

considered

all the statutes

mentioned in your inquiryin connection with the questiona

under consideration. For the purposes of this opinion

we do not deem it neceesary to quote said statutesin full. Article 6869, V.A.C.S., authorizes

the paymentof Deputy Sheriffs out of the General

Fund of the county only when the Ccnmni6sionere' Court is of the opinion that the fees of the Sheriffare not sufficient to justifythe payment of the deputies. The purposeof the statute 1s to enable the Sheriff to have a sufficient

number of deputies to performthe duties of his office. This Department

has repeatedly

held that a Sheriff who performs

the duties of Tax Aeseasor-Collector, la holding only one office, that is, the office of Sheriff,and that the aseeseing and collecting

of taxes are additional duties imposed upon the Sheriff. This Depariment hae also repeatedly held that a Sheriff

who performs

the dutiesof the Assessor and Collector

of Taxes is entitled to appointonly one Chief Deputy. You are therefore respectfully

advised that it is the opinionof thi6 Department that the Sheriff of Shackelford County, who performsthe duties of Aaseasor-Collector of Taxes, Is authorized to appoint only one Chief Deputy for his office, with the approval

of the Ccmm~issionere' Court, and such other deputies and olerks that are necessary. The salary of the Chief Deputy cannot exceed the sum of $1800.00 per annum, and the salaries of other deputies

or clerks of the Sheriffoannotexceed $1500.00 per annum each. The Sheriffof Shaokelford County cannot legally appoint threeChief Deputies for his offioe and pay each a maximum compensation of $1800.00

per annum. (See opinicn

No. O-91, a copy of which is enclosed for your convenience.) All of the deputize

appointed

by the Sheriffare deputy sheriffs and none of them are deputy tax asaeeeors

or deputy tax collectors. YOX are further

advised that it ie our opinion that the oompeneation of tie deputies

of the Sheriff

must be paid from fees of his office, and there is no legal authority whateverauthorizing the paymentof such compensation out of "&e General

Fund of the County exceptas authorized by Art. 6869 when the Cormuissioners'

Court is of the opinion that the fees of the Sheriffare not sufficient

to justify

the paymentof the deputies. this statute (Art. 6869) doe@ o,ot;

contemplate

that the compensation paid the deputiesout of the General Fund in accordance therewith

shall be chargedagainstthe Sheriff. Stated differently

the Sheriff is not authorized to pay the County Treasurer all the feea of his office,

neither is the County Treasurer legally

authorized

to pay the compensation

of the deputies

of the Sheriffout of the General Fund of the County.H:Jzorable 'Rimas L. Blanton,Jr., page 4 (O-&Ok)

AE heretofore

stated,,the

compensation

of the deputies

of the Sheriff

must be psid wt of the fees of his office,exceptas authorized by Art. 6869. Yours very truly A!lTORNE!YGEfiERALOFTEXAS /s/Ardell

Williams BY ArdellWilliam

Assistant

APPROVED

FE ':;9";5 /s/Grover

Sellers AlTQRiEYGENERALOF~

APPEOVED OPINION coi.!mTlm BY'/ifkiB Chairman