. - 

OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

iionorsble 8. V. Rayford 

County Auditor, Rusk County 

Uendoraon, Tams 

Dear 3lr: 

790 

Your letter of 

yz;t daparttaeat rdgardl 

: 

ha oplnlon 

II la 4s 

nt by the Conuala3srvlos Oif loot 

0 per month with 

e to this offiaa realdsa 

t House where his office 

to tall ma whether the travelrlded for la this aot will inolude tha 

County ;ienlae Officers horn to hle 

urt House and his return trip to his 

traveling expnm begin from his 

farent dutha and ap?ontmeata arlawith his work 48 County 3ervlca 

*Can the Coiamlaalon~ra hut agree wlth tha 

3ervlce Ofrlorr oa a flxad amount for hla trcirollng 

erpsnaa said amouut to be paid eaah month ou order 

or the Cosmlaalonera Court? 

"Seation 1 of the above eat provides for the 

appointment 0r tha Vaterana County servlco Offlasr 

and asalirtaot and flX88 the Salary. v4rllofA'a ijellaloe Law Smvlce and the Vqrnon*a Statutes a4ea1 to 
hva laft out 8 partion 0r a aante::oo in 0onn40tl0u 

with the aalvry crb the aaalatant orrmz. 

a, l + * wch Vsterma Courzty Lorvlc4 

Sfricclr and/or Assistant Veterans County 

~srvioo Orfloar, ahull reaalvr a salary 

aat to eroasd One ihmdrad Dollars (3100) 

pm mnth rbr tha prinoip+ Officer nor 

aore than Fifty Do&ma ($50) par month 

rlxad by tha Com%iaalonrrr Court, to ba paid 

in equal monthly lnataU.iaanta out of tha 

gansral funds of tha oounty~aad all aalarlcrs, 

travel and other expenses ot such office aball 

be ?ald on order ot the Comulaaionara Court.' 

*l'hs pmanmptlon with xa Is thut tha #ti.OO par 

aoath msntloued la tha above Section 1 is the salary 

fatended by the L4glal;lt~~rsFs for the r~aalatant Vateranr 

County Sarvlca Officer a:d X will thank you to tell ma 

if this la the torreat laterpratotion ot this portion 

of the section 1. l * *v 

Section 1 of Houar Sill. So. 368, Aata of tha 4Iith Lsglal&we, Regular h~s8ion, 1943, .proridae: 

Vhen tha oadaaionerat court of a oouaty 

shall determlna that a 4eterana' Couaty Scroloa 

Offiocr is a public nrsraaity la tha dlapatah of 

county bualnaaa, It ah11 by a najorlty of the 

full memberShip tiwreot, oreat and establish a 

Votsranas County Service orrie0. Tha oouaty 

ooPoPlaaloaars~ oouzt shall appolat aitch veterans 

to auah s4rslcb ofiioe azd auoh daalstant veterrras 

to auoh aervioa office aa shall ba deemd neoaaarry 

by the oounty OOm&4ulOnerS' Court. such vatsrana* 

County S4rvlco ofriorr sad/or Aaeiatart Veterana~ 

County Chmvlcs Orricer shall r*o.viva a salary not 

to 4rcosd $100 par month for the principal orricer 

nor more than $a0 per Iraonth, fixed by the county 

comniaalon4ra~ court, to be paid in rpually sonthly 

lnatallm4nta out or tha goceral fund of the oounty 

aad all aalarlaa, trnvel and other rxpenara of such 

offic4 Shall be paid on order of the oommlaalonsrs~ 

court." 
. 

Xoaordbie ii. Y. kyrord, @$,a 3 

~h4 ir0t further prescribes the qualiricatlonr 0r 

Veterma' County Senior Offlcar and/or Asalataot VOterunS' 

coudy sin104 Orffcer, tha duties of such ofiiOera, the 

tern of 0rriO4, etc. 

Llt4rall.y oonatrulng tb4 language 0r Section 1 0r 

the act, it appears that the oozvalaalon4ra* caurt 18 authorla4d 

to oraats and aatabliah a Veterans t c0wty s41-~104 oft 104 when 

the county oomslarlonara~ court datsrmlaea that a Vaterens~ 

County Service Officer la a public n4o4aalty in the dlapatob 

of county bualnsaa. Generally spaakin& aomo orrlo4a are created 

by the Constitution and others by the atatut48. It la a rattled 

principle alsc that an 0rri04 co348 into 4xlstenoa only wbon 

created in the praaorlbed aannar and continues only so long as 

tha law to which it owes its existsnor resalna la foroe; when 

*The creation of an orflcr la peculiarly a 

l4glalstlv4 imtter." 

The question whether tha oo~aaloneral court oreated 

tba of'fiae or whether the L4glalatura orsated tha oftic ti the 

.iot zier4ly furoiahaa the aatbod by whloh appolatllent to tue oiilce 

la mada, la not bafore us. If the Legislature baa not crested this 

office but authorizes the aom~~aalonara' court to orrste acid or-‘ 

rice, then a serious pleation as to tha conatltutlonality of tha 

.iot la raiaed. Thersfcro, wa express no opinion au to the vrlidity 

of said Act. 

sp40iri03uy answering your ~ueatlona, it la our opinion 

that the maximum oompeoa~tlon of the Veterans' County Servloe Officer cannot legally axcrad $100 per amth and tb4 mnxlmwa oom94na&ion 0r any Aaaiatant Vet4ran'a County ~enic.4 orri04r cannot c 

legally exceed $50 per inmth. 

It i8 OUP Opinion that th4 COMty 18 AOt 14f34lly authorized to pay the tmvellng expense of the Veterans1 County 

Service orf lcsr when s$ch exp4nae la incurred by aaid ofiicsr 

while traveling to and iron hla home aad orfloe. 
.-It io our further o>inlon that the oomiaaionore* 

court cannot legally allow the Veterana’ County Service Officer 

a tlxad mount for bia tr3vellag expenses to se paid each 301th. 

;rtated another way, t3e Veterana~ County Lorvice Officer is entitled to receive hia actual and neoesaary trevellzq expense 

fnaurred in the oonduct of hfr ofiioe and the co:zmfssionsrs* 

court oaanot legally fix a definite amount for such expense 

but oan only allow the aotual and necessary trsvelix expenzee 

lneurred each smith by 8uoh offiaer. Y,D heretofore stated, 

such traveling expense8 do not tnclude the expenrsr lnourred 

by raid officer while traveling between hi8 hone and offlor. 

COMMITTLL