July 16, 1948 

Hono Leo Ca Buckleg 

County Attorney 

Zapata County 

Zapata, Texas 

Oplnlon 196. V-637 

~Rb9 Questions regardinS 

fsrm and procedure 

rsspbotlng the ,bOrld 

required of t,he Coanty Attorney. 

Dear Sir: 

Reference 1s madb 

which reads as fOllbwS9 

to your reoent request 

“On June 14, 1948, ~tbe Commiasloners) dourt of Zapata ‘ounty appointed me 

County Attorney, subject to the required 

bead and rath. Xn connection with executing and filing the required bond, I note 

whet appears to be a conflict in the pertlned statutes 0 

“Artlole 330, ,Vernon’s Revised Civil 

3tatutes, reads1 ‘lrroh oounty attorney 

shall execute a baud 

ernor in the sum of 

mrsB with 

clent sureties 

missioners Cou 

ed that he wll 

manner presorlbed 

he may collect or whloh may come to his 

hands for the State or a,np county*! 

*‘Article 5998 provides the alternatlre 

of having suoh bond made by a ‘solvent surer 

ty company authorized to do buslness~ in this 

State’ o 

WArtlOlbZ1 6994 and 6090 real aonssaar, 

tirbly as iolIews( 

*.Wm bo&l of each rffloer who 1s re- 

&e an offlclsl bond 

OT to the State sha ?!I- 
Hon. Leo C, Buokleyi page 2 (VI637)~ 

be deposited with the Comptroller by the 

ft..+Xru,n, whn 9.ypmmn thhs mama., exceqt that 

of the Comptroller which shal.1 be deposited 

with the Secretary of Statbe 

“*All official bonds of eountv offifor that 

“In View Of the see&@ dlsorepanog 

between the protisfons Of Artlole 330 end 

Artlole 6CG0, I should appreoiate your informing meI 

“1. TO whOm should my b@M be payable r-r 

the GoteMr, or the Uounty Judge? 

“2. nust it be approved by the Corrmise1ofKm3’ 00urt7 

“3r W$th whom is tt to be ifled --. the 

Comptroller, the Ooanty Clerk, or both?* 

In Sutherland Statutory Construetlen, ~01. 2, 

page8 541-42-43,. we find the followingl 

Weneral and special sots may bs in 

par1 materis.~ If so, they should be construed together* WheTb one statute tieal. 

with a subjeot lo general terms, and anothe 

CT deals with a part of the asme sub eet 

in a more detailed way, the.twc nhOu !d be 

harmonized ,if posslble$ bnt ii there 1s 

any oonfliot, the latter w/l1 prevail, rea 

gardless l S whether It was pamed prior 

to the general stntutec unless it a 

that the legls~laf8N intended to me E 

pears 

e the 

general aot eentrolling.w 

Also in the oasb OS Townsend vs Terrell, 14 

SrWe(2d) 1363 tTbrr Oorc App.1 the court said; 

“It is only where sots are so inOWdStbht as to be irreconoilable that 

e re eal by lrplloati~on will be indulged, 

If t&m exists suoh aonfliot, then there 
Hon. Leo d. Baokleg,~ page 3 (V-637) 

is a presumption of the intention to repeal all laws and parts of laws in conflict 

with the clear intention of the last act. 

This is necessarily true where both acts 

cannot stand as valid enactments6 

“This rule of construction has found 

frequent and apt lllustratfon where one of 

the supposedly conflicting statutes was 

general in its terms and the other specific D In such a case it is universally held 

that the specific statute more clearly evidences the intention of the Legislature than 

the general one, and therefore that it will 

control. In such a case both statutes are 

permitted to stand - the general one applicable to all cases except the particular one 

embraced in the specific statute. a on 

Article 330, V. C. S. deals exclusively with 

the subject of county attorneys’ bonds, while Article 

6000, V. C. S. deals with county officials’ bonds generally . In view of the foregoing, it is our opinion 

that the bond of the county attomev should be made 

payable to the Governor. - 

In the ca.se of Luckey v. Short, 20 S.W. 

the court sald: 

“While it is made by law the duty of 

the commissioners’ court to approve the 

bond of the county attorney, no time is 

fixed at or within which this shall be 

done.” 

Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it 

opinion that the bond of the county attorney must 

proved by the commissioners’ court. 

723, 

is our 

be apWe are unable to find a case where the courts 

have passed upon your last question directly, However, 

in the case of Bachus v. Foster, 132 Tex. 183, 122 S.W. 

(2d) 1058 (Tex. Corn. App,) opinion adopted in deciding 

the question of venue in a suit on a sheriff’s bond where 

the facts showed that the bond had been filed with the 

County Clerk, the court said: 

“As we have seen, the bond sued on 

is the official bond of Virge Foster, as 

sheriff of Eastland County* By Article 

6866, this bond is required to be approved by the Commissioners Court of Eastland 
Hon. Leo C. Buckley, page 4 (V-637) 

Cotmtyr Andy by Article 6300 of the Stafutes the same is re:~uired to be *safely 

kept end recorded by the county clerk’ of 

that oountye It thus appears that said 

bond is required by law to be filed in 

Fastland 5oantyr1* 

Article 6000 ab#ve oited provides that all offioial bonds of oountf off leers that are required b law to 

be approved by the ~omnissimers~ Courts and whle h hare 

been so approved shall be safely kept and recorded by the 

county clerk, The County Attorney rs, of eburee, a public 

officer, 15 TmBi Jur, 385. The Supreme Court in the Backus 

oase having reoo nieed that the aou@ty offioial*s bon& was 

properly filed w if th the @mntg Olerlt, it follows by impliortion that the bond shald also be kept by him, 

Artlals 6066, V. C. 5. provides that the bon4 

of the sheriff shall be made payable to the Ooveruor, and 

Artiole 330, V. 3. 8. provides that the bond of the eountg attorney shall be made payable to the Governor. Henoa, 

we b~llcrc thb hoMing in the above quoted oaae is also 

a 

v E 

plieablo te the eaenty attonry*s bond, ThereSore, b 

rtue or the feragQin&, St is our opinion that the bo lmi 

OS the county atterneg ahoola be filed in ths orriar cd 

the county olerk after WWg approved bp the oommissione 

cm* eourtr 

The official bond of the ooutity attorney 

should ba made 

8 

ayable to the Governore Art 

3301 t. G, 8, u&a ‘bond should ba approved e y 

the Conunfss;onersi Court+ Zuokeg va She&, 20 

SrW, 723r The official bona 0r thei ooumty atr 

torneg should be kept aRd Siled in the ofiioa 

of the county olerk after suoh apprsvalr Arti~ 

ele 60001 Baehus v0 Fester, 122 S,We(M) 1058r 

Yours very tray, 

Asalstant