. 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

GROVER SELLERS 

AIIOIIN‘Y GCNERM. 

Honorable L. W. Vance 

county Attorney 

Tltua County 

Box 207 

Mt. Pleasant, Texas 

near sir: 'opinion No. O-6730 

Be: Whether ooapense 

We harr reoeired JO 

the above oaptioned matter, 

a8 rou0w8t 

r0r YOU 0plni 

armor opiniona in 

e opinlon8 hare 

are three matters 

in theae opfnians. 

n paid to me by the COD 

;Idling special matters 

7, would that aean that count7 

efiected thereb7 would be allowed to refees up to ;jOOO.OO and l/3 of the excess, 

to erased ,i3750.007 In other words, would it 

amount allowed under Artiale 38837 

-Third, would such a raise for 1945 ordered by 

the Court on July 1st mean that 8 total maximum of 

;j?50.00 could be retaked this year or only a total 

naxi.auz of ..jj7j.rJO? Or ,tiould each &if ;resr’s 

fees kve to SC: totaled cz: fi,urod sepratcl;?" 
iionoreble i.. Yi. Vanoe, page 2 

Xc enawer to your first quertion, we q.zote from an 

opinion rendered by Honorable Soott Gaines, First Aseiatant 

Attorney General of Texas, on January 2, 1935: 

*Unless statute provldea for the county ettorney to represent the oountg in a olvil aotion, It 

18 not the duty of the oounty attorney to do 00. 

In oaaee where the oounty attorney In required to 

represent the county and no ice lq preeoribed, then 

the oompenaatlon of the oounty attorney is the 8x 

oifioio oompenretlon that will be allowed under 

Article 3895, eroept 5.n oaaea where a oertaln amount 

of money is reoovered, then his compensation Is 

thgt authorized by Artiole 335. 

“In. oases where the law does not requlre 

oounty httorney to represent the oounty, the oompenration is thet whioh I8 agreed upon between 

the oounty attorney and the oomalssionerr* oourt 

just In the same manner as If some other attorney 

had been~ employed by the oountyIm 

The Attorneya .Generel of Texas have oonslatently held 

that the’oounty attorney is entitled to reeeoneble oompeneation 

for aervioem performed for the county v other than those services required by law, and said uoompeneetion Ie a&reed upon 

between the oounty attorney and the ooinmls.a16nere1 oourt just 

In the 8ame manner a8 if come other attorney had been employed 

by the oounty.” We al80 oall your a ttehtion to Attorneya 

General Opinions NOD. O-45, O-225, O-1040, 0-1796 O-3599, 

O-3656, O-4955, O-5263, 0-5306, O-5905, end O-6376, ooplea 

of whioh have already been mailed to you. 

ln oonneotion with your seoond question;, we call your 

attention to our Opinion ?;o. 

68 roii0w8: 

o-6592, w hioh provid.eer, In part 

*The maximum ex-officio compensation which mey 

be allowed seld Sheriff is any sum which, when added 

to other compensation and excess fees allowed to be 

retained by him under said Xrtlcles 3883 and 3891, 

does not cause such officer to reoeive a tote1 oompenration in exoess of Three Thousand Sevsn Eundred 
zoonorable L. W. Vanoe, peg6 4 

oS oompensetion from eny 8ouroe which 6 oounty officer OS Titus 

County ia allowed to retain cannot exoeed Three Thousend Seven 

nunarea end Fifty Dollar8 ($3.750.00) per year. 

In oonneotion with your third question we 0611 your ettention to our Opinion No. O-6576, which reed8 in part 88 followrr 

R . Any inorea8e of fmlery for the year 1945 

must ;e*in the proportion a8 the balance of the year 

relate8 to the total annual lnorea86 that may be made 

under raid Act. In other word@, IS . . . the increase 

In oompensetlon f8 allOWed a8 Of June let, then the 

lnorease for 1945 would be 7/12ths. . . . The oompen8etlon for the month8 pessed oannot be inoreesed. 

"In oonneotion with the foregoing We dlreot your 

attention to Art,689a-11, V. A. C. S,, whioh is In 

part a8 roiiowr: 

evWhen the budget ha8 been finally approved 

by the Comml88ioner8* Court, the budget, a8 

approved by tha court 8hall ba riba withthe 

Clerk of the county court, and taxe8~levled 

only in aooordenoe therewith, and no expenditure8 of the Sun48 OS the oounty ~8hell thereafter be made etoept in, 8,tri0t oompllenoe pith 

the budget ~a8 adopted by~the court, zxoept that " 

emergency expendlturer, in oeee of grave,pub110 neoersity, to meet unueual and unforeseen 

00nditi0n8 whioh 00ula not, by naaonably ailigent thought end attention, have been inoluded 

in the origin61 budget, may from time to time 

'be 6UthOrlz6d by the Court a8 amsndmenta to the 

origin61 budget, In all oases where such amendments to the original budget 18 made, e cop7 of 

the order OS the Court emending the budget. shell 

be filed with the Clerk of the County Court, end 

etteched to the budget originally edopted.(" 

Appl7inC the above quotation :o your s~ciSi0 in<uir;-, 

you are advised that if the inoreese is ellowed es of July 1 

194~5, then the meXi.m~ increase for thi8 year Would be 6/li&. 

In other words, the maximum oom~ersetion thet any officer of 

Titus County could reteFn for 1945 would be j3375.00. 
iionoreble L. i'l. Venoe, p6G.e 3 

and Fifty Dollar8 ($3,750.00) per year. In no event, 

00uld the fees 0s 0rri0e and 6x-orrioio compensetlon 

retained by him exceed the maximum of Three Thou8end 

Seven Hundred end Fifty Dollera (33,75C,Oo). In other 

Word@, the maximum amount OS oompen8etfon from any 

aouroe whioh he ir ellowed to retain onnnot exoeed 

Thne Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars 

($3,750.00) Per yeara 

(I 

. . . 

"The 2% lnoreeae provided in senate Bill X0. 123 

appllea to the maxhum oompensetlon allOW urider Artloles 3883 and 3891, V. A. 0. 3. Seotion 2 of Artiole 3934 haa been repealed by Ofiid Sentite Bill80. 

123." 

Attorney General*@ Opinion No. 0-6597 read8 in part au 

fOaOW81 

'In view 0s the foregoing it 18 the~&nlon OS 

this depertment that Senate Bill No. 123, wpra, euthorizer the Comwl88loner8~ CcKIrt, when in their 

judgment t&e finanoial OOnditiOE 0s the oounty end 

the need8 or the OffiO6rO jU#%lfy the lnoreaae, to 

enter an order reiaing the maximum oOmpen#etion 

allOw8d by lew to an amount not to exceed 25$ of the 

sum allowed for the rlaOel year 0s ;r9U. In'other 

words it allow8 the Commlarlonerr* court to ralee 

by 2Yj the m8xlmua1 amount or oomp8aaetlon from any 

aouroe which he 18 allowed to retain. The l/3 

exoeea fees provided for by Artlole 3891 ere ln0luded in the meximum. 

"Stated encther way, no ohenS in the gisnner end 

method of computing the tote1 feee end oompznsotion 

to be allowed such offioers we8 made by senate 3ill 

Lo; 12.3, but it only reised the meximun mount alloWed 

by 25." 

These oplnio~s ere epplioeble to the matters &bout wl;lok 

you inquire in y0'u.r seoond question, vend in no event could 

the fee8 of office end the ex-offiolo compensation reteined 

by him exoeed the maximum of Three Thousand Seven aundred end 

Fifty Doller8 ($3,75O,OO).v In other Word@, the maximum 6mOtUt 
&onorable L. W. Vadoi, page $ 

We m#t that we have 8ati8faotorl4 l naw*red You inf@rler~ 

Tour8 very tru4, 

JCD1Lf 

t. 0. Davl@e rr* 

A##i@t-t