^ ..-.- 

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 other matters. 

Ymr letter of January 24, 195, requesting the opinion of this 

Department regarding the matters mentioned therein, ie in part, aa follows% 

"The auditor who has audited our ouunty booka ham 

brou&t up oertaiu legal question6 in oonneotlon with 

the admlnietration of our oounty buaineee uponwhioh, 

a8 County Attorney, I would like to get oplnlona fran 

your offioe. 

*The population of Shaokelford County'ia lea8 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 

present offioer, and aleo prior to my becoming County 

Attorney, the feee of the deputies employed by the Sheriff, 

Tax Assessor and Ta Colleotor, were paid by the,Oounty 

Treasurer out of the General Fund, and all fees of office 

were paid into the County Treasury. 

"The auditor, who has just audited the oounty books, 

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 cabined 
Honorable Thomas L. 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 

deputies the following: Mr. John Hightower, Chief Deputy 

Sheriff, at a ealary of $1800.00 per year; Mr. F3uory Morris, Deputy Sheriff at 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. Eadine Brewster, 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 quite meet 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 

County has 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 census of the United States, the Sheriff of 

each of such counties in addition to 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., providea in part: 

I . * e *the compensation whioh may be allowed the 

deputies, assistants or clerks above named 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 Deputy not to exoeed Eighteen Hundred ($1800.00) 

Dollars per annum; other assistants, deputies or clerks not 

to exceed Fifteen Hundred ($1300.00) Dollars per annum each. 

Art. 3899, V.A.C.S., provides in part: 

" . s a . The amount of salaries paid to aesiatants 

and deputies shall alao be clearly ahown by such officer, 

giving the neme, position, and amount paid each3 and in no 
Honorable Thomas L. Blanton, Jr., page 3 (O-6404) 

event shall any officer show any greater amount 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 

inquiry in connection with the questiona under consideration. For the purposes 

of this opinion we do not deem it neceesary to quote said statutes in full. 

Article 6869, V.A.C.S., authorizes the payment of Deputy Sheriffs out 

of the General Fund of the county only when the Ccnmni6sionere' Court is of the 

opinion that the fees of the Sheriff are not sufficient to justify the payment 

of the deputies. The purpose of the statute 1s to enable the Sheriff to have a 

sufficient number of deputies to perform the 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 duties of the Assessor and Collector of Taxes is entitled to appoint only one Chief Deputy. You are therefore respectfully advised 

that it is the opinion of thi6 Department that the Sheriff of Shackelford County, 

who performs the 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 Sheriff oannot exceed $1500.00 per annum each. 

The Sheriff of Shaokelford County cannot legally appoint three Chief 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 Sheriff are 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 whatever authorizing the payment of such compensation out 

of "&e General Fund of the County except as authorized by Art. 6869 when the 

Cormuissioners' Court is of the opinion that the fees of the Sheriff are not 

sufficient to justify the payment of the deputies. this statute (Art. 6869) 

doe@ o,ot; contemplate that the compensation paid the deputies out of the General 

Fund in accordance therewith shall be charged against the 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 Sheriff out 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, except as authorized by Art. 6869. 

Yours very truly 

A!lTORNE!YGEfiERALOFTEXAS 

/s/Ardell Williams 

BY 

Ardell William 

Assistant 

APPROVED FE ': ;9";5 

/s/Grover Sellers 

AlTQRiEYGENERALOF~ 

APPEOVED 

OPINION 

coi.!mTlm 

BY'/ifkiB 

Chairman