JOHN L. HILL 

Attorney General 

The Attorney General of Texas 

July 10, 1978 

Honorable Fred Toler 

Executive Director 

Opinion No. H- 1286” 

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement 

Officer Standards & Education 

llO6 Clayton Lane, Ste. 220-E 

Twin Towers Office Building 

Austin, Texas 78723 

Dear Mr. Toler: 

Re: Authority of the District 

Attorney in Travis County to 

appoint investigators without the 

approval of the Commissioners 

Court. 

You have requested our opinion regarding the authority of the District 

Attorney of Travis County to appoint investigators without the approval of 

the Commissioners Court. 

Prior to its last amendment, article 326k-14, V.T.C.S., read in its 

entirety: 

Section 1. The District Attorney for the 53rd 

Judicial District shall represent the State in all 

criminal cases before the Criminal District Court .of 

Travis County, Texas, the S3rd Judicial District Court, 

the 98th Judicial District Court, the 126th Judicial 

District Court, and all other District Courts of said 

County. 

Sec. 2. The District Attorney shall appoint a First 

Assistant District Attorney and such other assistants 

and secretaries as shall be necessary to the proper 

performance of his official duties. The number of 

assistants and secretaries’ to be appointed and the 

compensation to be paid shall be with the approval of 

the Commissioners Court of Travis County, Texas. 

Sec. 3. The District Attorney of the 53rd Judicial 

District shall be paid a salary in an amount not to 

exceed the total salary paid from State and county 

funds to the Judge of the Criminal District Court or 

other District Judges of Travis County nor less than 

the salary paid from State funds alone to the Judge of 

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Honorable Fred Toler - Page 2 (H-12 96) 

the Criminal District Court or other District Judges of 

Travis County, Texas. The First Assistant District Attorney 

shall receive a salary not less than Seven Thousand, Five 

Hundred Dollars ($7,500) nor more than Ten Thousand 

Dollars ($10,000) per year and other Assistant District 

Attorneys shall receive salaries not less than Five Thousand 

Dollars ($5,000) nor more than Seven Thousand, Five 

Hundred Dollars ($7,500) per year. 

Sec. 4. The Commissioners Court of Travis County is 

hereby authorized to pay the salaries.provided in Section 3 

of this Act or to supplement the salaries of the District 

Attorney and Assistant District Attorneys paid by the State 

of Texas in such an amount that the total salaries paid shall 

not exceed the maximum provided herein. 

Acts 1963, 58th Leg., ch. 187, at 502 (emphasis added). Thus, under the statute as it 

existed from 1963 to 1969, the Travis County District Attorney was empowered to 

appoint all “assistants and secretaries as shall be necessary to the proper 

performance of his official duties.” The number of these personnel was to be 

regulated, and their salaries approved, by the Commissioners Court. Clearly, 

however, the sole authority to appoint was conferred upon the District Attorney, 

and the only limitation upon that authority was the maximum number of positions 

fixed by the Commissioners Court. 

In 1969, article 326k-14 was amended to its present version: 

Section i. The District Attorney of the 53rd Judicial 

District shall represent the State of Texas in all criminal 

cases before all the District Courts of Travis County, Texas. 

Sec. 2. The District Attorney of the 53rd Judicial District 

shall appoint a First Assistant District Attorney and such 

other Assistant District Attorneys as shall be necessary to 

the proper performance of his official duties. The number 

of assistants to be appointed and the compensation to be 

paid shall be with the approval of the Commissioners Court 

of Travis County, Texas. The First Assistant District 

Attorney and other Assistant District Attorneys shall be 

duly licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and shall 

be authorized to perform any official act delving [sic1 upon 

or authorized to be performed by the District Attorney, 

under the direction of the District Attorney, and shall be 

subject to removal at the will of the District Attorney. 

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Honorable Fred Toler - Page 3 (H-1206) 

Sec. 3. The District Attorney of the 53rd Judicial District 

shall appoint as many stenographers, secretaries, investigators and other office personnel to be appointed and the 

compensation to be paid shall be with the approval of the 

Commissioners Court of Travis County, Texas. 

Sec. 4. The District Attorney of the 53rd Judicial District 

shall be paid a salary in an amount equal to the total salary 

paid from State and County Funds to the Judge of the 53rd 

Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas, excluding 

any compensation paid to the Judge of the 53rd Judicial 

District Court of Travis County, Texas, with reference to 

juvenile board matters. The First Assistant District 

Attorney shall be paid a salary not to exceed Fifteen 

Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) per year, and the other 

Assistant District Attorneys shall be paid a salary not to 

exceed Twelve Thousand-Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500.00) 

per year. The Commissioners Court of Travis County, Texas 

ls hereby authorized to supplement the salaries of the 

District Attorney and the Assistant District Attorneys paid 

by the State of Texas in such an amount that the total 

salaries paid shall not exceed the maximum provided herein. 

Acts 1969, 61st Leg., ch. 56, at 157. 

According to the bill analysis, the only purpose of the amendment was “to 

raise the salaries of the District Attorney and his assistants.” But, in addition, the 

form of the statute was altered, so that the District Attorney’s authority to appoint 

assistant district attorneys remained in section 2, while his authority to appoint 

various “assistants and secretaries” was transferred to a completely rewritten 

section 3, and “stenographers” and “secretaries” were specifically listed among the 

“other office personnel” which the District Attorney was empowered to appoint. 

As presently written, section 3 is not a meaningful sentence. The comparison 

which begins “as many. . .‘I is not completed, while “to be appointed” appears to be 

redundant. It is probable that several words were inadvertently omitted from the 

statute. 

We are supported in this belief by the bill analysis regarding the 1969 

amendment. If the amendment had been meant to alter the method of appointing 

“assistants and secretaries” in the office of the Travis County District Attorney, 

either by requiring individual confirmation or by removing the Commissioners 

Court’s authority to impose a limit on the number of positions, it would seem that 

such a change would have been reflected in the. bill analysis. However, the only 

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substantive purpose of the amendment appears to have been to raise salaries. The 

reorganization of the various sections of article 326k-14 appears to have been 

merely a matter of form. 

Although a specific statute, such as article 326k-14, is generally held to 

prevail over a general statute dealing with the same subject matter, in the present 

instance a particular provision of the specific statute is meaningless. In that 

event, we believe it is permissible to consider the general enactment. Application 

Of the relevant portion of article 3902, V.T.C.S., to the appointment power of the 

Travis County District Attorney leads to the same result as does resort to the pre1969 version of article 326k-14. On the basis of these considerations, it is our 

opinion that the Travis County District Attorney may appoint investigators without 

the approval of the Commissioners Court pursuant to article 326k-14. The 

Commissioners Court has authority, however, to fix the maximum number of, and 

salaries for, such positions. 

The Honorable Ronald Earle, District attorney of Travis County, has 

explained the procedure of appointing investigators in Travis County as follows: 

The procedure followed by this office in appointing investigators can perhaps be better understood if such investigators 

were represented as being of two different types: the first 

being those investigators who are compensated by Travis 

County and for whom slots have therefore ~been approved in 

the budget of this office by the Travis County Commissioners 

Court, and thus for which Commissioners’ Court approval is 

necessary because of compensation. The second type would 

include investigators who are appointed by this office but not 

compensated by Travis County. Therefore, no request was 

submitted to the Commissioners’ Court seeking authority to 

appoint uncompensated investigators . . . All Travis County 

investigators, including those not compensated by Travis 

County, were appointed to investigate matters under Travis 

County jurisdiction. The practice of appointing uncompensated investigators without seeking Commissioners Court 

approval has been done in my administration since January, 

1977. It is my understanding that at least one prior district 

attorney also appointed uncompensated investigators without 

seeking Commissioners’ Court approval. 

We believe this procedure is within the legal oontemplation of article 326k-14 

and that you can rely on it in your certification. Should the Commissioners Court 

take action to fix the maximum number of compensated and uncompensated 

investigators for the District Attorney% Office and should this create a conflict of 

opinion between the District Attorney and the Commissioners Court a different 

question would be presented. 

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Honorable Fred Toler - page 5 (H-1206) 

SUMMARY 

The Travis County District Attorney may appoint 

investigators pursuant to the authority of article 326k-14, 

V.T.C.S., without the approval of the Commissioners Court, 

but the Commissioners Court has authority to fix the 

maximum number of such positions. 

Very truly yours, 

Attorney General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

Opinion Committee 

p. 4842