OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable a. Siiintion~ 

county Auds.tor 

You* request tar 0 

aaremly oonaidersd by this 

your raqwet @a iollcxzar 

*A 00unty orri 

' ealary syateiu, iale 

on his 

oounty ofiicers have been 

ee January 1, 1936, 

oompanwhen the ofoi AZtiols 39128, Vernonva Annotated 

, reada as followd,r 

11 oounties or thie State ooataining e population of leas than one hundred and 

ainaty thousa'iid (190,000) inhabitanta acaosding to the lcet 2reoediq Pedorel Ceneue where- -. 

in the oounty or praolnat officers are oompsnsated on a salary basis under the provialons or 

thlr hot, there shall be oretited a Pnd to be 
Honorable C. SInmona, page 2 

knOm”t~ the *orriorr8* snhrg Ipund 0r 

Oouuty, Texas.* jiuah fund shall be kept aeparatm and apart froa ~11 other oounty tinda~, 

and shall be held and diebureed for the pur- 

~088 or piying the e~Iarie8 0r 0rri09r8 an4 

the salaries or deputleta, araletanta and olerks 

or orrtoers who ass drawing a salary tram said 

rti under the ~rovi~~lona or thl8 kot. and to 

pay the authorl%ed ex~enee~ 0r~udp 0irl0ed 

SuOh fund shall be deposited j.n the Oounty &.- 

pository and &all be yroteoted to the aaam eztent aa other Oountp fu~&r.~ (Undersooring ourr) 

It will be noted that the authorized ex n e 

otfioe in salary oouutlee are ts be paid from th&%fr~ 

salary rund. 

Section 5 or Art1010 3912e, Vernonts Annotated 

Texas Civil Statutes, reada as tollowar 

mission was due to negleot on the part or the orri0er oharged with the reeponsiblllty 0r colleotiag 

mane, the amount of such fee or oozmniaoion shall be 

deduoted fromtha salary 0r suoh 0rri00r. Berore 

any suoh deduotlon, ie made, the Co@.ieaioners* 

Court shall furnish euoh ofrloer with an itemized 

atatenent ot the unoolleoted tees with which hla 

acoouut la to,be oharged, and shall notify such 

orrloer af the time and place for a hearing on 

mime, to determine whether suoh Oifioer was guilty 

or negligence, which time for hearing shall be at 

least ten days eubeequent to the date 02 notloe. 

Unless en orrlcer is ohargad by law with the meponslbllltp or oolleotlng fees, the Conmiesfoners 

Court, shall not in any event make any deduotions 

from the authorized salary of auoh officer." 

(Underaooring ours) 
EIonorable C. Simmons, page 3 

Seotion (b) of Article 3899, Vernon's Annotated 

Texas Civil Statutes, reade a8 rollons; 

"(b) Each offfoer named in thir tit, where 

he reoeivee a salary a8 oompecsatlonfor hia eervlae8. shall be empowered and permf.tted to purohaee and bare oharged to hi8 oounty all reasonable 

expenses neoesaary la the proper and Legal aonduet 

or hi8 0rri08, premiuma on orrlcials~ bonds, premium on fire, burglary, thert, robbery lneuranee 

proteoting pub110 rum38 and in01udi1~ the co& Or 

r Treasurer, only RB 

. . . . . . ..sa..+ 

Ye resldenoe may, upon the wrltten and-sworn 

application of the Shariif stating the naeaaeity therefor purchase equipment tar a bureau of crlmlnal ldentlrloation, such ae oamera8, ilnger print ,OaxUe, inks, 

ohemioalr, miorosoopea, radio end laboratory equipment, 

filing oarda, filing oablnete, taer'gae and other equlpment in keeping with the eyeten In u8e bF the.Department 

or Publio safety of this State, or the Unit.6 State8 Pepartment or Justlae and/or Bureau Qf Criminal IdentifloeMon. 

*&oh purohaeer shall bs made by eaoh officer, 

when allowed. only by raclulsitl 

by the County Auditor, lf any. t 

gni&;;n..r w;v;u;~ 

Y 

missioners' Court. Xaoh officer ehall, at the olose 

of eaoh month of file tenure of office. make an itemized 

and sworn report of all approved exxxnses Inourred by 

him and oherged to hi6 oounty, accomDanying such renort 

with involoee oovarlog ouch purchases and raquisitiona 

Issued by him in support of shah report. If euoh SX- 
Honorable C. Si-mmon~, page 4 

pox&es be inourred in conneotlon wlth any parthxl.lar WAae, swh report #ha13 name euoh case. 

Such report, lnroioea and requiettlona ‘shall be 

oubjeot to the audit oi the Oounty Auditor, ff 

nny, otherwioo by the Oozamkeaionerr* Court, and 

ifs It eppearslthat my item ww not lnourrlrd by 

suoh offleer, or,that suoh itea wae not a neaeasary or legal 6xpe~e of ewh'oiiiaa, or purahaa- " 

ed upon proper requialtlon, euoh itam shall be 

by aaid County Auditor or oourt rejeoted, in 

whiob aaae the payment of euah item may be adjudioated in any court ot oompetent jurisdiotion. 

All such approved &alms and aooounts shall be paid 

rroa the orri0Ora* Salory Pund unlOsa OthWWise 

provided herein. 

+fhe Commisaionsrs' Court or ths amnty af the 

Sheriff’s residence may, upon the written and .morn 

applioation of suah offioer, atatlng the neeesalty 

theraZor, allow one or more automobiloa to be used by 

the 3herirf in the dieoharge of official bueinees, 

whlah, if purohased by the county shall be bought 

in the manner preaorlbed by law for the purchase ot 

supplies and paid ior out of the General l%nd of the 

oounty an& they shall be reported and paid in the acme 

rtanner a6 herein provided for other expeneee. 

Where the automobile or automobllee are owned 

by the Sheriff or hie Deputies, they shall be allowed 

four (40) oonte ror eaoh rail0 traveled in the disoharge 

of oftfolal busineaa, which num shall aover all expenses 

or the ma1ntenanoe, depreciation and operation of euoh 

automobile. 8uoh mileage shall be reported and pafd 

ia the @ame manner preeorfbed for other allowable expensea under the proviafone of this eection. No 

automobile ehall be allowed for any Deputy Sheriff exoept thoas regularly employod in outside work. It shall 

be the duty of the County Auditor, ii’ any, otherwise the 

Oom&seionere* Court, to cheek the speedometer reading 

or eaoh or s&id automobilee, Owned by the OOUntY once 

each month and to keep a pub110 reoord thereofi n0 

automobile owned by the oounty shall be used for any 

private purpos6. As amended Aote 1933, 43rd Leg- P* 

734, ah. 220, seotion 41 Aots 1935, 44th Leg., P= 718, 

oh. 311, a8otlOn 1; zts 1935, 44th Leg., 2nd C. S., p* 

1762, ch. 465, seotion 11; -iots 1937, 45th Leg., PO 

1340, oh. 498, section 1.” (‘Jnderscorfw3 ours) 
Honorable a. Simmons, page 5 

Articlee 3896, 3897 and 3898, Vernon’s Annotated 

Civil Statute*, reab a8 roliour~t 

"Art. 3896. To keep aooountm 

“Each dlstriot, county and preoinot orrioer 

shall keep a correet atsteaept of all fees earned 

by him and all suma coming into hia hand6 as deposits for eoete, together with all trust funds 

plaoed in the reglatry or the court, tees or office 

and coiumiaaionr in a book or in book6 to be provided 

him for that purpoae in rhioh the ofricer, at the 

time when such degoalta are made or euoh fees and 

oodsoione are earned and when any or all of such 

f’unds shall taome into hiia hands, shall enter the 

same1 and It shall he the duty of the oounty auditor in oounties having a oounty euditor to annually 

examine the booka and accounts of ewh otfioers and 

to report his flndinga to the next suooeeding grand 

jury or distriat court. In oountleo having no oounty 

auditor, ft shall be the duty of the Commissioners’ 

Court to make the examination or said books and aecouuts or have the earns made and to make report to 

the grand jury as herelaabove provided.* 

‘Art. 3897. Sworn otatement 

*Each dilrtrict, oounty and preolnct officer, 

at the close of each fiecal year (December 3lat) aball 

make to the dietrict oourt of the county in whioh he 

resides a sworn etiateweat in trlplioate ton forma deeigned and approved by the State rudltor) a copy of 

which statement shell be rorwarded to the Stnte Xuditor by the olerk of the dietriot oourt of eaid county 

within thirty (30) day8 alter the same har been filed 

in his orrloe, and one copy to be riled with the county 

auditor, it any; otberwiae said oopy shall be filed with 

the OoauaiaeionersV Court. Said report shall show the 

amount of all rees, commlaelone and oompeneatione whatever earned by eaid orficer during the fleoal year; and 

eeoondly, ehall show the amOunt of fees, Oor;lmisSiona 

and oompeneatlone collected by him during the fiscal 
iionorable C. SimmoM, page 6 

peari thirdly, raid report shall contain an itemized 

state::aant or all fees, oommiaoions and oonpsnsations 

earned durl~ the fiscal year whloh were not oolleoted, 

Logethex with the name or the party owing said tees, 

tolm~ltr~i~n~ ana ocmpefk3ationr. 6aid report &all be 

riled not’ later than February let rolloting the cloeo 

0r the ri5083~ year and for eaoh dey arter said date 

that eela report resmins not riled, said orrioer shall 

be liabla to e pebalty of T@enty Blvs ($25.00) Dollars, 

whioh may be recovered by the oountp ln a cult brought 

for such purpc8ts, and in addition said officer shall 

be subjeot to roaoval rr0m ottice.* 

“Art. 3898. Fiscal year 

*The rlacnl pear, within the meanlrig or this S;ot, 

shall begin on January let or oaah year; end eaoh diatritt, county and preolnot offioer shall rile his report and make the rinal settlecent required in this 

BO t not lat,er than ‘February 1st of eaah yeer; p-oviiitd. 

however. that uffioers raceivina an annual salary as 

gowansatlon for their 6ervicss &all, by the al&se of 

teoh month, pay Into the Cffloers’ Salary Fund or funds. 

all fees. oommissions snd compensation collected by him 

during said month. ‘&‘henevrr mch of~loer strvs8 ior a 

fraot?::nal part of the tlscd yenr, he shall nevertheless 

rile his report and mike final settlembnt for suoh part 

of the year aa he serves and shall be entitled to such 

pfoportSo%ate part of his compensation as the time for 

his service bears to the entire year.*( :Jn;ln?erscxlng 

ours t 

It will be noted that Article ?898, (luprct, requires 

that officers operating under the Officera* Salary Law must pay 

into the officers1 saIery fund all fees, oonmissions and oompensatlon oolleoted by tham duriw said month. 

The recent case of Ploreon et al, v. Galveston County, 

131 S., ?I. (26) 27,deals with se&ion {a) of Article 3899, Vernon’s 

Annotated Civil Satutus, end holds that a justioe of the peace 
honorable C. Slmmne, pegs 7 

(operating un9er the fes system) was not entitled to reoover oertain items o? expense oleimsd for poetags, traveling 

expenses end meaaenger servl,oe, during oertein years in office; where the justice 414 not render monthly statements 

of euoh expenses es require4 by statute, but merely tile4 

annual reports estimating the axpeneea In lump sum amounts. 

While this oese lnrolved section (a) of Artlols 3899, Vernon’s 

Annotate4 Civil Statutes, relative to fee offfoers, we wish 

to point out the following highly signlrloant language use4 

by the Court in said opinion: 

“The manlrsat purpose oi this statute was 

to provide a means of aeoertaining the oorreotnees 

of expense items eeoh month as they are incurred. 

The aotual expense paid or inourred oonatitute the 

neesure of the ofriolel’s right to recoupment. The 

monthly itemization ia for the protection of the 

oounty by afiordlng a %ae~ns oS ascertaining the f-at 

end amount of much olaimed item of expense end whe- / 

ther it was properly ohargeable (18 suoh. 1t is 

manireat lrom the annual report8 end confirmed by 

the evidenos that these expenses wer4 nerelg estima- J 

$04 and a lump sum given each year. The statute 

~%oufd be of no value if its salutary provisions 

could De evaded in this manner. .:I8 hold the item 

properly disallowed by the ooinaJ8aionerst oourt, 

an4 ,the trial court18 Judgment correct in denying 

x’eao~ery thessfor .” 

It is manliest that in selary counties the rule and 

reason Sor filing monthly expense acoounts is perhaps even more 

strict than In fee oounties. It is oontemplated by the statu- 1” 

tea that the neoeesitp for such eXp8nditUPM shall be in so 

rar es possible pre-determined by the oom.laslonerel oourt for 

the ensuing month before,the expenditures are made; suoh expenditures and purchases, shell be n?ade by esch ofricer, where 

allowed, .only by requisition in the manner PPOvided by the 
. 

Honorable 0. Simmonr, page 8 

. . ,. 

county auditor, if any, otherwise by tte oon;misrionerrrt 

court. The offloer la require4 at the olole of eaoh month 

of his tonurw of officre, to m&a an ltetiac4 nnd (RIOJXI report of all 0sproreQ exmnse8 inourrsd by him an4 ohargeb to 

his oounty, acoompany~ng suoh rspost with intaioea aovsring 

suah puxohaaee and rrquiultions is8ue4 in rupport ot 8uoh 

report. All approve4 olalmm an4 aooounts are paid Srod tb 

orrloscs* aalery tund. All feem, oompttnsation an4 oommiseiona must be depoaitea by the offioer in the Olrloers’ Salary Bun4 at the olore of each month. Tha orriasr has no 

authority to expend fees, oompensationa am4 oommiauloar 

oolleoted by him for expense8 of oifioe, aa suoh aollsotlona 

must be plaoed IA the Oltioera' Bolarg iTun4. Any and all expenses of olfict~ in Salary,oountiea must be made in oomplianoe with Artdole 3899 (bj, 6uprs. 

It is tha opinions cf this department that your 

question should be answered in the aegetioe, and it is so 

anewsreb. 

Youre very truly 

Wm. J. Fanning 

Aeslrtent