Hon. Ken Jennings Opinion No. S-76 

County Attorney 

Mitchell County Re: Authority of the county tax 

Colorado City, Texas assessor-collector to charge 

and retain a fee for the preparation of certificates respecting the status of real property 

Dear Mr. Jennings: taxes. 

You state that the Tax Assessor-Collector of Mitchell 

County is compensbted upon a salary basis and you request the opinion 

of this office upon the following question: 

“Where the Tax Assessor and Collector of 

a county ,charges a fee for preparing certificates 

to be used in abstracts of land titles, said certificates stating whether or not there are any State 

and County taxes due on said property, is this fee 

to be retained by the Tax Assessor and Collector 

or turned over to the Officers’ Salary Fund? n 

We think this question has been answered by the Supreme 

Court of this State in the case of Nueces County v. Currington. 139 Tex. 

297, 162 S.W.2d 687 (1942). In t&s case the Court said: 

“The amounts of the fees coll.ected and retained 

by defendant and not paid into the county fund in accordance with the requirements applicable during the time 

covered e . fi aggregate the sum of $4,662, the amount 

sued for by the county. 

“The entire amount thus retained by defendant was 

admittedly received by her as compensation for the issuance of tax certificates. Defendant’s position’(and she is 

sustained in it by the Court of Civil Appeals) is that the 

charges collected therefor were not received by her in 

her offi,cial capacity. She concedes she was not entitled 

to charge for the tax statements issued by her certifying 

that taxes were delinquent, or past due and unpaid on the 

lands or lots described therein, since she was required 

by the provisions of article 7324, R.C.S. 1925, Vernon’s 

Ann. Civ. St. Art. 7324 to issue and furnish to those designated therein tax statements so certifying. She contends, 
Hon. Ken Jennings, page 2 (S-76) 

however, that nei.ther artic:le 7324 nor any other 

article ol the statute required her to furnish to any 

one tax st:atemenis certifying.that all taxes had 

been paid, on a particular lot or tract of land. She 

contends;brieily, that inasmuch as there Wb.8 no 

statutory duty on her part to issue to applicants a 

tax certificate showing a tax status other than that 

of delinquen&$ the service rendered by her in fprnishing certificates showing a different tax StbhXS 

Was a personal service; and that being b personal 

service, she was at liberty to make b personal 

charge therefor and thus supplement her official 

compensation to the extent of the amount so chbrged. 

Her contention was sustained by the courts below. 

For reasons presently to be stated’ the holdings upon which the contention was sustained are erroneous. 

“It is our conclusion that the fcer collected, 

whether rightfully or wrongfully, were for services 

rendered by defendant officially. It is bpparent on 

the face of t& certificates themselves that they’were 

issued offici&Ily. Each certificate carried the dasignation, ‘Tax Certificate, State of Texas, county of 

Nueces,’ over defendant’s name signed thereto, bS 

‘Tax Collector, Nueces County, Corpus Christi, 

Texas’; and upon each was impressed her seal of 

office as the collector of taxes of that county.” 

This case fustier bold,s th,at it is the duty of the tax 

assessor-collector to issue a statement or certificate showing the 

status of the taxes due upon any tra.ct of land or the absence of delmquent taxies upon said land, regardless of the purpose for which 

the certificate may be requ,ested, In brief, fees’coll,ected by the tax 

assessor-collector f~or issuing statements in compliance with Article 

7324, V.C,S., (ox under Articles 3939 and 72S8a, V.C.S.) are fees of 

offi,ce and must be ar c:ounted for by the tax assessor-collector as 

suc,h; and if the assessor-c,ollector, is rompenshted on a salary basis 

the fees must be turned in to the Ofj,i.c:ers’ Salary Fund, 

SUMh&IRY 

---_- 

Fees collected by the t~ax assessor-collector 

for the issuance of: tax certificates showing the status 
Hon. Ken Jennings, page 3 (S-,76) 

of delinquent taxes upon any particular tract of land 

should be turned in to the Of~ficers’ Salary Fund of 

the county where the tax assessor-collector is compensated upon a sa.lary bask. 

Yours very truly, 

JOHN BEN SHEPPERD 

Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

W. V. Geppert 

Taxation Division 

Willis E. Gresham 

Reviewer 

Robert S. Trotti 

First Assistant 

John Ben Shepperd 

Attorney General 

BY 

Lq~l$&-J 

e e 

Assistant