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July 

### 30,'1951

Hon. Paul Rew CountyAttorney Yoakum county, Plains,Texas ODInIonRo. V-1220

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Re: Authority of the histrict judge to increase the compeusation of the county auditor in the middle of a fiscal year. Dear Sir:

Your request for au opllnlon reads in part as follows:

"'Can the Dlstrlct Judge r&se the salary of.a oouuty auditor at therequeet of the Commfssloner~sCourt of the ,countyof resldence of said auditor, between January lst, the date of appointment of the auditor, and the beginning of ,thenext ensuing fiscal year of the county?'

-In regard to this question I set out the following facts. The Comnlsslouerls Court ,oP Yoakum County, Texas, entered an order on their minutes at the regular meeting date of the court In Ray, 1951, raising the salaries oft all county officials from $5940.00 to 

### $6,480.00, or l@ of their base pay. At the time that this actlonwas taken the Court requested by letter to the District Judge,

. . . 106th Jadlclal Mstrlct, that he raise our County Auditor's salary, as of the 1st day of June, 1951. Our Auditor took office In January, 1951."

Article 1645,V.C.S., provides:

"In any cowityhaving a population of thlrty five thousand (35,000) inhabitants, or over, according to the last preceding Federal Census,
orhaving a tax valuation ofFifteen Million ($15,000,000.00)Dollars or over, according to the last approved tax roll, there shall be blennlally appointed an auditor of accounts andHon. Paul Rev, page.2 (V-1220)

finances, the title of said officer to be CountyAuditor, who shallhold his office for two (2)years and,who shall receive as compensation for his services to the county as such CountyAuditor,san annual salary of not more than the annual salaryallowed or paid the Assessor and Collector of Taxes in his county, and not less than the annual salary allowed such County Auditor under the general law provided inArticle 1645, Revised Civil Statutes, 194!2,as saidArticle existed on January 1, such salary of the CountyAuditor to be fixed and determinedby the DistrictJudge or Mstrlct Judges making such appointment and havlng jurisdiction in the county,a majority ruling, said annual salary to be paidmonthly out of the general fund of the county. The action of said DistrictJudge or DlstrlctJudges In determinlng and fixing the salary ofsuch County Auditor shallbe made by order and recorded in the minutes of the Mstrict Court of the county, and the Clerk thereof shall oertlfy the sasm for observanceto the Coss~&s.sioners' Court, which shall cause the same to~be recorded in itsminutes; after the salary of the CountyAuditor has been fixed by the District hdge or DiStriCtJudges, no change in such salary shall thereafterbecome effective until

and above the annual salary allowed such-CountyAuditor under the general law provided in Article 1645, as ,sald Article existed onJanuary 1, 1940, shall onlybe allowed or permitted with the express consent and approval of the Commlsaloners' Court of the countywhose COLUty Auditor is affected or may be affected by the provisions of thisAct; such consent and approval of such Commissioners!Court shall be made by order of suchCourt and recorded In theminutes of the CanmIssionersCourt of such county." (Emphasisadded.)
According to the records of the office of Comptroller of Public Accounts,Yoakum County has a tax valuation of $42,218,969.00. Therefore,Article 1645 is appllcable toYoakum County. Under the plain provis,ionsof theHon. Paul New, page 3 (V-1220)

above statute, "after the salary of the CountyAuditor has been fixed by the District Judge or District Judges, no change In such salary shall thereafterbecome effective until the beginning of the next ensu+g fiscal year of the county." Therefore, we agree,.wlth you that the salary of the CountyAuditor ofYoakum Countymay not be changeduntil January 1, 1952.

SUMMARY

Ones the salary of the county auditor has been set for the fiscal year, Itmay not be changed until. January 1st of the followingyear. Art. 1645, V.C.S.

APPROVRD: Yours very truly,

J. C Davis, Jr. PRICE DWIEL CountyAffairs Division Attorney General

Everett Hutchinson ExecutiveAssistant

Charles D. Mathews First Assistant

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