**OFFICE** OF **THE ATTORNEY**  **GENERAL OF**  **TEXAS AUSTIN** 

LWs,Peyton Burke CountyAuditor Falls County Earlin., Texan Dear Us. Burker Opinion NO. O-6831

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### courtorFalls heRoad andBridge sic and the rehe **budget of**  

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or those OPthe other precincts issued on the eam date. scrip warranta oi Preoinot #2 will be paid before thoae of' Precinot #I+and those drawnagainst Preoinot #4will be paid bsfor$ thoae drawnagebet Preoinot 83.Mrs. Feytou Burke, page 2

*The queetion on whioh I would like an opinion Is this: Is it legal for a oounty to pay the scrip warrants outstanding of one preoinot ahead of the aorip warrants outstanding of another preoinot in the case of Falls County; I.e., whenthe Road and Bridge inoome is allooated to the Pour preoinote on a percentage basis?" Article 

### 1625,Revised Civil **Statutes,** 1925, providea: Qaoh oounty treasurer shall keep awell-bound book in whloh he shall register all olaims against his oounty in the order of presentation, andii more than one Is presented at the sametime he ahall register themin the order of their date, Heshall payno suoh claim or anypart thereoi, nor shall the same ) or any part thereof, be reoelved by anyoifioer in payment or any indebtedness to the oounty, until it has been duly registered In aooordanos with the **provlelone** OPthis title. All claims in eaoh olass shall be paid in the order In whloh they are reglstered.* Art. 1626, R. C. s., provides: "Claims againeta oounty ehall be registered in three olaases, as Pollowe;
juroriFi* All **jury** scrip and sorip ieeued for feeding

All aorlp ieaued under the provieiona oP the roai law or for work done onroads andbridgea. 

### "3. All the general indebtedness of the oounty, including reedlng andguarding prlaonere, andpaupers* claima,.” Art. 

### 1627,R. c. s., providers: Y3ai.dtreasurer shall enter eaah claim in the register, stating the class to which it belongs, the nameof the payee, the amount, the date of the claim, the date of registration, the numberof such claim, bywhat authority ieaued, and for what service the samewaa **lasued,** and shall write onthe face of the claim its registration number, the word 'registered,' the date 

### OPeuoh registration, and shall sign his nameofficially thereto."Mrs. Peyton Burke, page 3

Article 6675a-10, Vernon’s Annotated **civil stqtutee,**  **in** 

# part,providers: Art. 6740, R. c. s., provides: "The oommiealonera oourt shall see that the road andbridge fund of their oounty Is judio1ocaly and equitably expanded on the roads and bridges of their oounty, and, aa nearly aa the oondition andneosaaity of the roada will permit, it shall be expended in eaoh county oommissionere preoinot in proportion to the amountoolleoted in suoh preoinot; Moneyused in building permanent roads ahall riret be used only on **rirat** or second-olass roada, and on those whioh shall have the right of wayPurniahed free oPcoat to make as etraight a road aa ia praotioable anbhaving the greatest bonus oliered by the oitizene or money, labor or other property."

**”** Noneof 'themonies (motor vehiole registratio: ;eis) 80plaaed to the oredit of the Roadand Bridge FundoPa oouuty shall **be** used to pay the salary or OOmpen%atf.On Of shy COUdyJudge or County .COIS&.S**sioner, but**  **all eaid**  monies shall be ueed for the oonetruotion andmaintenance of lateral road8 in such county under the supervision oP the CountyBngineer, if there be one, andit there is no such engineer, then the County Commisaionerst Court shall have authority to oommandthe servioes of the Division Engineer or the State HighwayDepartment for the purpose or eupervi+ng the oonatruotion and **surveying** oP lateral roads in their reapeotive oountiea. All fund8 allooated to the countlea bythe provisions of this Aot (Arta. 6675a-1 to 6675a-14; P.C. Art. 807%) maybe used by the oountiea in the payment or obligations, iP any, issued and incurre4i.n the construotion or the improvement or all roada,'inoluding State Bighways o; 'such oountiea anddistricts therein; or the improvement oPthe roada comprising the County Road system." (Parenthetical matter ours) Thecommiaaionere~ oourt la authorized to ellooate the

_ . road andbridge fund amongthe **varloue** aommlssionersl preoinots, eubjeot to the provisions of Article 674.0and 6675a-10, su ra, (Shivers v. Stooall, 75 S. N. (26) 276; arrirned 129T. 25 %
, 103 S. Vii'.(26) 363), andwepresume that the allooationa andMrs. Peyton Burke, ‘page 4

expenditure8 oPthe road andbridge fund, mentioned in your letter, were madePromtime to time in oomplianoe with the provisions of aaid artioles. Weunderstand Promyour inquiry that, on the bee18 of the aforementioned allooation of the road andbridge fund on said peroentage basis to the various preoinots, the oommiaaioners* court authorized the isauanoe of sorip warrants for claFms incurred against the reepeotive pre

### oinct Funds. issued againstWeunderstand further that the sorip warrants order, eaoh preoinot fund were registered in numerical

and, aa funds beoome available in a partioular preoinot fund, under the above mentioned allooation, the sorip .warrants against that partfouler preoinot fund are paid in the order of their registration. With reiarenoe to the matter of the proper order in whioh warrants drawnagainst oounty funds are to be paid, in the oase of Wilkinson v. Franklin County, 94S. W..(26).1190, the Court eaidr

(Ia,

. .Artiole 1625, R. s., clearly denotes the order in which warranta drawnagainst the oounty treasurer are to be paid, and amounts to an appropriation of the funds in the oounty treasury to the payment of all warrants legally drawnagainst the several olaeaea of funds in the order ot their registration.

. .v In Opinion No. O-4552, this department paesed upon a question involving the authority of a oommiasionere~ oourt to transfer fund8 of certain preoinota to another preoinot fund, whenthere were registered scrip warrants outstanding against the partloular preoinot funds Promwhloh said transfer 

### wasto be nede. We quote rrrm said Opinion a8

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“The holder8 of the outstanding aorip again& Preoincte Noe.~1, 2and 3 have vested interests in the funds of said preoinots to the Pull extent of olaiae as evidenoed by auoh aorip, and the Commissionera’ Court of Limeatone County haano authority to decree a prsierence, thereby impairing suoh vested rights of oreditors of Preoinota Nos. 1, 2 and 3 by paying out the funds of said preolnota to Precinot No..4.”tire, Peyton Burke, page 5

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### viewof the foregoing andin view of the faots submitted, it is our opinion that the holder of a registered rorip warrant against apartioular preoinot has a vested interest in the runas legally allocated to that particular preoinot to the full extent of olaixus as evidenced by auohscrip warrant. It is our further opinion that the vested rfghta of the creditors of 

### 5partfouler precinct nay not **be** impaired, and that the registered aorip warrants agaihst a partioular preoinot fund should be paid in the order of the registration of warrants issued against that partioular **preolnot** fund, even though warrants issued on a given date against ens partfouler preoinot fund maybe paid before warrants drawnon the samedate against a different preoinot fund beoomeeligible for payment.
**We trust**  that the foregoing satiaraotorily answers your in**qulry**

**. Your8**  **very truly,**  ATTORNXY

Q~RAL OFT&XM

**JAE:IJ** 

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