Honorable Enrigue ?I. Pena 

County Attorney 

Rl Paso County 

Room 201, City-County Bldg. 

El Paso, Texas 79901 

Dear Mr. Penar 

Opinion No. M-774 

Re: Authority of County 

Treasurer to sign 

checks drawn on El 

Paso County General 

Assistance Agency 

account. 

In your recent letter you requested an opinion of 

this office, setting out the fact situation as followst 

"The County of. El Paso, as part of its 

welfare program, has created a General Ass~istance 

Agency. Each year the Commissioners' Court budgets 

funds for operation of the Agency. Payments to 

welfare recipients are made by check. Our County 

Auditor draws a warrant which is approved by the 

County Treasurer to transfer funds from county 

general funds to El Paso County General Assistance 

Agency account. Commissioners' Court, the County 

Auditor!8 accounting system, directed the County 

Treasurer to countersign checks drawn on El Paso 

County General Assistance account. The County 

Treasurer refuses to countersign these checks. 

The population of El Paso County is in excess of 

350,000." 

We have also been advised in a telephone conversation that there is no dispute as to the legality of the disbursements with reference to the persons and the purposes for which 

disbursements are made. We do not here rule on that matter. 

We understand that the question which has arisen 

among the officers of your county involves purely procedural 

matters. We understand that for a number 01 years, pursuant 

to an order of the commissioners court, warrants hav,e been 

drawn on the county general fund to transfer funds budgeted 

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Hon. Enrigue H. Pena, page 2 (M-774) 

for the county‘s welfare program to a bank account designated 

as the El Paso County General Assistance Agency account, and 

that those warrants are drawn by the County Auditor and approved by the County Treasurer. 

We understand that disbursements are made to individual welfare recipients by checks drawn on the General 

Assistance Agency account, that these checks are signed by 

the County Auditor, but that the County Treasurer has raised 

a question as to his authority to countersign these checks. 

We are advised that the order of the commissioners 

court directing the transfer of funds by warrant on the county 

general fund is silent concerning the matter of signatures authorized on checks drawn on the General Assistance Agency account. 

Under the circumstances described. we are of the opinion that, if satisfied that the checks are issued for a lawful 

purpose, the,County Auditor has the duty to sign the checks and 

the County Treasurer has the duty to countersign them. 

Article 1709, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides as 

follows: 

"The county treasurer shall receive all 

moneys belonging to the county for whatever 

source they may be derived, and pay and apply 

the same as required by law, in such manner as 

the commissioners court of his county may require 

and direct." 

Article 1711, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides as 

follows: 

"He (the County Treasurer) shall render a 

detailed report at every regular term of the commissioners court of his county of all the moneys 

received and disbursed by him, of all debts due 

to and from his county, and of all other proceedings in his office, and shall exhibit to said 

-3771- 
Hon. Enrique H. Pena, page 3 (M-774) 

court at every such term all his books and 

accounts for their inspection and all vouchers 

relating to the same, to be audited and allowed." 

Article 1713, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides as 

followsr 

"The county treasurer shall not pay any 

money out of the county treasury except in 

pursuance of a certificate or warrant from 

some officers authorized by law to issue the 

same: and, if such treasurer shall have any 

doubt of the legality or propriety of any 

order, deaee, certificate or warrant presented 

to him for payment, he shall not pay the same, 

but shall make report thereof to the commissioners court for their consideration and direction." 

We are of the opinion that the commissioners court 

has the authority to transfer funds by warrant from the county's 

general fund to the general assistance agency account for disbursement to the proper welfare recipients of the county. We 

think the court has this authority under paragraphs 10, 11, and 

15 of Article 2351, Vernon's Civil Statutes. True, we find in 

Bexar County v. Mann, 138 Tex. 93, 157 S.W.2d 134 (1941), the 

language 

*All county expenditures lawfully authorieed 

to be made by a county must be paid out of the 

county's general fund unless there is some law 

which makes them a charge against a special fund. 

Williams v. Carroll, Tex.Civ.App. 183 S.W. 29." 

We think, however, that money transferred from the 

general fund to the agency account to be used for valid county 

purposes is nevertheless expended from the general fund where 

the transfer is done for accounting convenience. 

We are of the opinion that Articles 1709, 1711, and 

1713 apply to the county treasurer with respect to money in 

the agency account just as they do with respect to money in the 

-3772- 
Hon. Enrigue H. Pena, page 4 (M-774) 

general fund. The treasurer shall receive and pay money in such 

manner as the commissioners court may require and direct, under 

Article 1709. He shall make proper accounting of the money in 

the agency account under Article 1711, and may refer doubtful 

items to the court for their consideration and direction under 

Article 1713. 

In e, 235 S.W. 857 (Tex.Com. 

App. 1921). the court approved the following charge by the trial 

judge : 

"It is the duty of a county treasurer to 

receive all moneys belonging to the county from 

whatever source they may be derived, and pay and 

apply the same as required by law, in such manner 

as the commissioners court of his county may require and direct, and all sums of money so paid 

out by a county treasurer under the requirements 

or direction of the commissioners court, or paid 

out by a county treasurer for the benefit of the 

county under the direction of any member of the 

commissioners court or county judge and afterwards apprwed and ratified by the commissioners 

court, must be taken as payment according to law." 

Attorney General's Opinion No. WW-430 (1958) dealt 

with an accounting system similar to the one followed in your 

county and with the matter of the treasurer's signature on the 

warrant transferring funds from the general fund to the welfare 

fund. The opinion concludes as follows: 

"Having concluded, therefore, that the 

general control and management of county finances 

rests in the commissioners' Court, and having 

further concluded that the accounting procedure 

above described does not amount to a delegation 

of the functions of the County Treasurer under 

Articles 1710 and 1627, Vernon's, Civil Statutes, 

it is our opinion and you are so advised that 

the above described system of disbursement of 

the fund8 of Dallas County is valid and in conformity with the statutes of the State of Texas. 

-3773- 
Hon. Enrique H. Pena, page 5 (M-774) 

"In view of our answer to your first question, 

we presume that the Ccunty Treasurer of Dallas 

County will carry out his functions as County 

Treasurer in processing and paying the warrant 

issued by the County Clerk to begin this aisbursing procedure. Accordingly, we deem it unnecessary to answer your second question concerning 

whether mandamus would lie against the Treasurer to 

require his approval of the warrants issued by the 

County Clerk." 

For your information we enclose a copy of Opinion 

No. W-430. 

SUMMARY 

If the commissioners court orders money 

transferred from the county's general fund to 

a special bank account for disbursement by 

check to welfare recipients, checks on that 

account must be signed by the county auditor, 

and the county-treasurer has the duty to, countersign the checks, but he may avail himself of the 

protection afforded by Article 1713, V.C.S., by 

referring the items in question to the Conrmissioners Court for their direction. 

verytruly yours, 

neral of Texas 

Prepared by James S. Swearingen 

Assistant Attorney General 

-3774- 
Hon. Enrique H. Pena, page 6 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

W.'E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

Malcolm Quick 

Ralph Rash 

Houghton Brwnlee 

James Broadhurst 

MBADE F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLAWHITE 

First Assistant 

(M-774) 

-3775-