OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTliU

Bonorable Carlo8 0. Aehley DlatrlotAttorney Llarlo, Texas

Attention: Xr. A. 0. llueller

Dear Blrr

fied and is now haldkg off%oe, “So formal olalm has ever been filed for said unaolleatedaommIsaIon8, and. no avorB statement~a8 made for any OS said years as requiredby Artlole 3897 R. s. Ho report voa illed by the Collector shoving the said ooztnisslona due and uncollected.

## 914

. . .

Bonorable 0~108 C. Ashley, page 

### 2

"Is there any vay that the Tax A88eraor-Colleatormay at this time he lavfullypaid the aggregate olaim for ~ommlaal~8 due him by virtue of said l a8e8ament8?

. l . .* Llano County 

### has a population or 

### 5996 inhnbitont.8 acoording to the 1940 ?ederal Cen8u8, and it8 oounty offlola lra 

### oompenaated on a feebasis. Artlolo 2795, Vernon’8 Annotated Iox Civil Statutes, reads as follova:

"The ocmmir8lonerr court, at the time of levying taxes for county purporer, shall also levy upon all taxable propertyvlthin any oomnon schooldirtriot the rate OS tax 80 voted if a rpeairiorate ham been voted3 othervisesaid oourt ahall levy l uoh a rite vlthin the limit 80 voted as has bean determinedby the board of trustee8 of said diatrlot and the oounty l

upmintendent and oertifledto said aourt hy the oounty au rlntendent. If auah tax has heea voted after t re~levy of county taxes, it shall be levied at nnymietlng'of said oourt prior to the &livery of t&:&aaeasment rolls by the aaaea aor l The tax arusarbr 8hall aaaeaa said tax a8 other taxes are assessedand make en abstract shoving the amount of special texea assersedagainst eaoh aahool dlatrlat-~inhir oounty and furnish the same to the ootmty l uperlntendemt

on or before the firat day of September of.the.yearfor vhlah augh taxes are aaaeaaed. Zhe taxer levied upon the real property in said diatrlata shall be a lien thereon and the same ahall be aold for unpaid taxer in the namer and at the time of 8alea Sor State and oounty taxer. The tax colleator l hsll collect aaid taxer as other tuea are oolleated. The tax aaaea8or shall reoelve a commla8ionoi one-halfof one p ing mu& tax and the tax aollec6- r oen
. t for l88e88 or a aommisafon of one-half of one per cent. for gollectinff

the same. The tax oOlleOtOr shallpay a11 auah taxer~to fie aounty treaaureP', and said.

Bonorablo CW108 0. A~hlOy, *go 3

treasurer shall oredit oaoh school dlrtrlatvlth the amount belonging to It, and pay out the same in aoaordanoe vlth 181. lag ours) Aots 1921, 9. 56.' (UndorroorArtlalo 3883, Vernon's hotsted Texas Civil Statutes, reads In part as follovar

'Paopt as othorvlroprovided in this Aat, the annual foes 

### thatmay be retaInedby proainot,oounty and dlstrlct offlcor8montloned In this Artiolo Shall be as iO11OUSI
“1, ti countlsrOOxkt8ining tventy f'lve(25,000) thousandOr 108S iDhabItants: county Judge, Dirtrlat 02 CriminalMatriot Attorneg, nheritf, County Clerk, OouatyAttorney, DistrictClerk, Tax Colleotor, Tax Aa8os8or, or the Aaso8sor and Colloator of T6xo8~ Bmnty-four Eundrsd ()2400.00)D0llars eaohj

. . . Artiolo 3891, Vernon’s mnotated Texas Civil Statutes, roads In part as follov8r

?&oh ofiioernamed ia thls Chapter 8hall flrat out of the current fees of his offlod pay or be paid the &imoUzit

alloved him under the provlrlona of Article 3883, togethervlth the salarlos of his asrlatNOZLtS and dO&NXtiOS,

and authorizedexpenses uuder ArtIolo $399, and the amount necessary to aover aoats of proaium on vhatevor surety bond may be Fequired by lav. If the current fees of suoh office aolleotedIn any year be more than the amountneeded to pay the amounts above 8poclfIed,wuw shall be deemed excess fees, and shall be disposed Of IU the maunor hereinafter provided.

‘In counties oontalningtventy-fivethousand (25,000)or loss Inhabltantm, DIrtriot and County offiaorsnamed heroin shall retain one-thirdof nuch exaes8 fOO8 until 8Uah one-third,togethervlth the MOUIItS speolfledZn Artlole 3883, mounts to !&Pee Thousand Dol;Lars ($3,000),

. . . ”

. . . .

## 916

Honorable Carlo8 C. Ashley, page 4

'All current foes earned and oolloctodb orfloors hamod in Artlolo 

### 3%63 during imy ilaoa f yeor In exaess OS tho maxlmm and exaesa alloved by this Aat, and for their servicerand for the rorvloesof their deputiesand aa8iatMtr oud authorlrodox

### ponaoo,togetherulth all delinquentfooa colleatod ond not uued as provided ln Artlalo 

### 3892, or u8ed to pay 8818ldO4 Of deputlorUd o88iStMta VhM Ourrent foes ore luaufflolent,Shrllbe pold Into the County Treasury in tha oounty whore the exooa~ aoaruodi
"All fees duo ond not colleoted,as 8hOPn in the report ropulrodby Artlole 

### 3697,rho11 be oolloated by the offloer to vhoae o?f.Ioe the foes aoorued and rho11 bo dl8pOSod O? by raid Offioer in acoordanoe vlth tho provisionsof thla Aat,
"Zhe compensationa, lImItatIonaand moximunm herein fixed In this Aat iOr offloors sholl Include and apply to oll offlaersmentionedheroin in eaah and every county o? this State, and it i8 hereby declared to be the Intentionof the Logislaturothat the povlalona of this Aot aholl Spply to each of 88ld officers,and any special or general lau Inconsistentvlth the provlalonahereof la hereby expressly repealed in 80 far as the same may be Inaonalatentvlth this Aot,
"The aompenaatlon,uJUitatiOn8and amximuma heroin fixed aholl also apply to all foes and sow .ponaatIon

vhatsoeveroolleatedby l ald officers In their ofilolal aapaalty,vhether aaaountableas foes of offioe under the present law, and any law, general or Special, to the contraby la hereby oxprossly repealed. ?he only kind and charkaterof
""7 enaationexempt from the QrOViSiOnq Of this Pot aha 1 be revarda roaelvedby Sheriffa for apprehon810n OS OrIQiiM.lS

or fu&tIVeS from jUStI and ?OP the reaovory of stolenproperty,and moneys received by County Judges and Justices of tho ?eaao for performing awriago oeremales, which sum shall not be l ooountablofor and not required to be reported as is88 of o?fiae. (As amendedAats 1930, 418t L og., 4th G.S., p. 30, ah. 20; Aate 1931, 42nd Log., p 870, ah. oh ~~~~,A~~~h1~~~,4',~d7~~'~h~*3~fjj)~.j" 220, i 23 Act.8e

---.

Honorable Carl+ a4 Aahloy, p&go 5



### 'irfilole

3892,Vwnon'p Annotated **?OX4%8 civil**  St@&uter, roads .a8**r0ii0v81**

*Any offlaer mentioned .in this ChaDtor vho door
**not** 

### oolliot

to oOiRploto

the Artiolor %3, aaxlmum~aompenaatlon

3883-A, SUthOrlSodby

and 3886 for the youp In vhlah dollnquont fear voro 

### charged, and al80 retain the munt of lxuoa~too8 authmlred b law, and the rmlndor of the dolinqwnt 

### fees for t L t firaal oar shall bo p8id a8 horrln provided for trhonoolIeot4d; povid4d, the provialon8**0s** thl8 hrtiolo 

### shallnot 

### apply to 4ny offioor after 'xza yo4r ir05 the date he 

### 0088.8 to hold the orrioe 

### to vhich any deAinqwnt 

### r04 18 duo, aad in the event the orriaor o4rnm the foor t&t 4re delinquenthas not aolleutod the same PithIn tvelvo mmthe aiter.he aoaso8 to hold th4 0rfi00, tha aatount 0s fee8 001140tedshall bo patd into tho oounty treasury. Provided,how

### over,that nothing In this Aat prealuderthe gaymont of ox-ofrlalo fooo in aacordanaevlth Tltlo~ 61 

### of tho 

### RoviaodOivll Statutes 0s Toms4, 1925, a8 part of tho lu~l~n 003qW88tlOn. Provided, that any change mode in thlr &tlole by this bet 8h4ll not apply to fear h4retoforoearned. (A4 amendedActs 1930, SlSt tg., 4th c. d., QD 30, oh. 20, )' 4.)” (Undorooorlng ouro)
lW above quoted rtatutoboaw offootivoiu 1930, prior to the oornfng of the oOmmIanlonain quortlonhero.

ArtlOb 3897, !hrnoSi'S Aunot8t.d 90X48 Civil Stahter, roads 88 folloor~

Woh diatriot, 0Ounty Ud pr4ofnOt 

### orrmir, at the.aloao of o8Oh ii8041 y44r (Dwenbor 31at) rh411 make t0 the dl4trlot oourt of the oounty ln vhIoh ho rorido8 a 8vorn rtetom4atin tripllcatct (on **row** doSi@lod and 

### approved by the State Auditor) a **OOQJ** of wh$oh St8teMnt ahall be forvardbdto the State Auditor by the olerk Of the dIatrlOtoourt of said aounty within thirty 

### (30)days after the rw has been filed in hi8 OfflOO, and One OOQy to be filedHonorbble C-108 0. Ashley,page 6

vlth the oounty audItor, if any; otherwiseaa’“,;;gy shall be filed tith the Oommiaaionera~ Court. rbport shall show the ameunt of all fees, oommiasiona and compenaatlona whatever 4arned by said officer during th4 ilaaal peari and 84oondly,ahall ahov the amount of f4e8, commlaaiona and ooa~pen~ationa ooll4ctedby bin durw tha fiscal y41rj thlrdly, 88id report ahall containan it4miaed statement of all f448, ooamlaai~na and oompenaatlonaearned during the fiaoal yeas vhioh vere not oollected, tog4thervith the name of the **party ovlng**  **said** f44a, oommiaa~ona and oomp4naatlons. Said report shall be tiled not later than P4bruary 1st folloving the close of the fl~csl ye8r and for each day after said date that said report remains not filed, **said** officer shall be liable to **a** penalty of tvanty Five (@LOO) Dollars,vhiah may be reooveredby the county in a suit brought for auoh purpoa48,and in addltion said offloer shall b4 subject to removal from office. (As 6mendedAota 1930, 41at Leg., 4th CA., p. 30 ch. 29 ) 5 Acts 1935, 44th Leg., 2nd C.S., p. 1762, ch. 465, 1 9.)"
The oaa4 of Pierson v. OalreatonCounty, 131 S.N. (26) 27, held that a justiceof’ the pea04 vaa not entitled to recover from a county items oi expenses claimed for oertain items during oertsln years In offlo where the justice did not render monthly atatembntaof such expensesas requiredby Art1 1 mg, v A = 3

. . . ., but merely filed fm.nual reports estimating ghz expenses in lump sum amounts. ’ ion in said cause as follova: We quote from the court’s opin- \ “Themanifest purpoao of this statutevaa to provide a mans of ascertainingthe correctnessof erpenssitemaeaoh month 88 they ere incurr4d. The ~.~e,~1-:t~4.:,qtficirl~a right to recoupment. actual 4x enaea paid or inaurrad constitute&$$$eamohttil~~it4miaation is for the protection >f the county by afford&x&a means of arcertain.tr?g the feat and mount oi auoh albtimed item of’

expense and rh4ther it vaa properly chargeablea8 such. 1t is manifest from the mnwl reports and oonflrmed by the evidence that these expensesvere merely eatlmated and 

### a lump sum given each year. The atatute would be of no value if its aalutory provisions

### 929

Hono~rI114

Osrloa C. Aehley,page 7

aould, be eveded in thir m4nn4r. Ye hold the items properly diaalloved ~bythe oomlaalonera~ oourt, and the trial court*8 judgmentcorrect in denying recoyery therefor,”

U4 think it oould llk4ulaebe said of Article 3892, auprb, that before any dellAwent fear oould be aolleot4dun

### der l eld brtiole that 88 a conditloApreoedent same must have been reportedas dellnqu4ntire8 vlthln the time and **aanner** requiredby Levi The fact8 in this 

### obae reilect .that this 

### vaa not don4,

It is our 

### opinion that uud4r the racta stated, the 4x-tu assessor-oolleotor la not nov entitledto the oomaiaaiona 5~2

que8tlon. .Xt vi11 be **noted** further thbt your letter does not ahov vhether the or-tax l aaeaaov-oolleotor

oolleotedthe muiaum fees allovedhim by 140 (in this a848 - 3,OOO.OO) e8,oh year. If he did that **vould bee**  **an** addltlona

f reason for denying him auoh oommiaaiuna-)- +

Phere are pwhbpa additionalreasonsvhy ouch oommiaalona oould 

### not nov be legallypaid to such ex-tax aaaeaaoraolleatorbut it is not neoeaaP.ry to go intq them here as the reason givsa &bow4 rfll &&ply suffice. Very truly **yours**
**ATTO8lEY**OWEBAL OF TBXAS

Wl’rdb