665 

OFFICE OF THE AITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable John R. Shcok 

Criminal Dlatrlot Attorney 

San Antonio, Tarar 

Dsar Sir: Attention8 1 

nd l m~loyaar o? 

sngagrd for and 

pub110 health 

thr time ruoh 

ra abeont from 

f and engagad in 

la1 training whloh 

to makctham brtto .rendir rarrlor 

oplnlon on the abotr rtatrd 

br thfr department. 

o thank you ior tha oitatlon OS authoryour Inquiry, whioh hna aldrd u8 in 

-‘ram Texas Jurisprudenos, Vol. 11, page 564, M 

quotr as folloner 
Honorable John R. Shook, pega 2 

%mmleslonere~ court.8 err courts 0r 

limited $zrledlotlon, In that their authority axtande only to mettere pertaining to 

the general WalZare of their raepeotira 

oountiae end that their poware are onlf 

thoee l rpreeely or Implladly oonierrad 

upon tham by law, --that 18, by the oonetltution and e~tatutae of the l tate.a 

we quote from Texee Jurieprudanoa, Vol. 34, 

535, a8 r0ii0w8 t 

*Samante and l aployaee may be engaged 

upon en7 terse of pepant thet mef be aooaptabla to the pertlee to the contract of 

amployment . There must, however, ba authority for lntorlog Into the agreamant. A ozmtraot appointing a person to perform oarta5.n 

eer~lc6e end to pay hIa a oomaleelon therafor, aade by a etate officer pureuant to an 

tmoanetltntlonel etatute, le 0r em roroe, 

and the appointee 18 not entitled to the oom- 

~188lOn. Again, e county ie not bound by a 

oontreot which has bean mede. by the oonmieslonere~court wIthout authority3 nor la it 

praoluded from aeeertlng that the oontract 

18 unlewfal end removering tha money wkipp 

hee been paid tharsundor. . . . .* 

Soetlo~, ,5J ~oi Article III of the Tarae Conetl- 

)utIon reaae 48 rollowe t 

me Leg~elakire ehall hare no power 

to grant, or to authorlee ‘any aouatf or 

enmlolpal euthorlty to grant, any axtra 

oompeneation, tea or allowance to a pub110 oflloer, agent, eervant or oontractor, 

aitar eenloa her been mmderea, or a 

contract has been entarad Into, and parionned In whole or in part; nor pay, nor 

authorize tha ~peymant of, any alaim 

orsated again8 t any ooucity or aunlcipalItr of the Stats, atier any agra6mant or 

contraot, made wffhouf authority of law.* 
66 

Honorable John A. Shook, page 3 

Article 44181, V6rnon’e AnnOtatad Revised 

Civil St.attltae of T6xam, reads as follower 

*It shall be lawful rot the &ate DaperWent of Haelth to eooapt donetlone and’ 

oontrlbutlone, to br expradea In the lntarart of the public health and the anforearent of pub110 h68lth lane. The Commleeionare 

Court of an? County shall hate ,th6 authority 

to appropriate and expend money from th6 

ganerel revenues of its County fir and In 

behalf of public health and eanltatlon 

within lta County.* 

An offloar 18 not antltlad to any oompaneation in addition to thet uhloh has been fixed by law 

for the perforaance of ths dutlae of hla offloe, oven 

though the, ooiupeneatlon so fixed is unreasonable or 

lnaarquata. He may be rsqulrad bra law to perfors 

epeolflo ea~lcae or dleoherga additional autlae for 

whleh ao SOmp8nSatiOn Is proYlded. Ths obligation 

to parfoxa euoh eenloae is lnpoeaa ae an lnclaant 

to -the office, and the offloer, by his accept&co 

thereof, 18 daamad to have bean 6 aged. to p6rfOrm 

them wlthout oompansatlon. Texas 7 urisprudence, 

vol. 3 

5. W. 2 

, p. 531; XoCaile vs. City of Rookdale 246 

54; Terra11 Ye. gins, 14 8. a. (2d) 76b; 

Statutes preeeriblng fees for pub110 offloara 

are etrlotl~ oonetrued, and hence a r&?,ht to fr6e IMJ 

fiat raet in ,j.mplloation. Where thle right 18 itft to 

‘oonetruoflon, thq language of the law must ba’oonetruad 

lo favor of the gorernm6nt. Where a .etatuta is capable 

or two ~onetructlone, one of whioh would give an orrlcar 

eomp&neetion’ for his ecnloos .ln addition to his salarT, 

and the other not, the latter oonetruotlon should be 

adopted. See Texas Jurleprudmde, Vol. 34, p. 508; 

Kedaen vs. Hardy, 50 S. PD. 926; Eastland County vs. 

Hecel, 288 6. F!. 518. 

The same reasoning as lndloatrd ln the lest 

two praoadlng paragraphs, where an offloar may be raqulrea to perform ep6olfla~aanlaee or dleoharga additional duties for tiloh no ooqlpaneatlon .I8 provided 

or allowed, would apply to eanente and emplop6ee who 
668 

Honoreble John 8. Shook, page 4 

are required to perform epaolflo l anloee or dleoharga 

addltlonel duties without eompaneatlon~ Tharefore, lneprotore and amplo~aae of the oountf engaged in pub110 

health work ooeld be retplred by the ragulatlone of 

the State Health Offloar to take spoolal tralnlng 

whloh 18 deelgned to make thm. batter qualifisd to 

render eerrloo in health work;,where such training 

1s required by raguletlone of the State Officer, 

without oomganeatlon. 

We do not think that the terns of Article 

Ulttf, eupra , arc) broed'enough to authorize the WU- 

~leelonere* Court to pay the ealar16.e of inspectors 

and e?&plo~eee of the oounty engaged lo public health 

work while euoh lnspcOtor8 or~employ6ee aka absent from 

the countf.and perform no dotlae~ae euoh lnepeotore 

and amplo~aae while taking the special tralnlw es 

above mentlon+d. 

In this oonneotlon we find no other authority 

that would authorize the comaleeloners* coart to pay 

the ealarlae to such lnepaoton an4 ~ploysae while 

taking the special training lndiaatad above. 

hyetlng that the foregoing fullr anawere 

your lnqali7, we rdmaln, 

fours very ~truly 

Ardell )cllllaem 

Aeeletent