Honorable Eugene Brady 

County Attorney 

Hunt County 

Greenville, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-4991 

Re: Can the county treasurer collect 

for the officers Salary Fund 

stated commissions for receiving 

and disbursing money coming into 

his hands by virtue of sale of 

bonds voted at Special Bond Election? 

Your letter of November 23, 1942, requesting the opinion 

of this department on the above stated question reads as follows: 

"I will appreciate an opinion from you on 

the following subject: 

"!Can the County Treasurer collect for the 

Officers Salary Fund stated commissions for receiving and disbursing money coming into his 

hand by virtue of sale of bonds voted at Special 

Bond Elections.' 

"The facts are as follows: In 1941 the residents of Precinct Four of this County voted to 

issue Bonds for Road improvements under the provisions of Article 752 a et, seq. These bonds were 

promptly sold, the money deposited with the County 

Treasurer and some of the money has been paid out 

on warrants properly drawn on such fund. 

"In 1942 the residents of this county voted 

bonds for the acquisition and improvement of land 

for an Air field. These bonds were promptly sold, 

the money deposited with the County Treasurer and 

some of the money has been paid out on warrants 

properly drawn on such fund. 

"In 1935 and for each subsequent year the 

salary of the County Treasurer has been set at 
Honorable Eugene Brady, page 2 O-4991 

$600 by proper order of the Commissioners Court. 

Hunt County compensates all County Officers on a 

salary basis. 

'In Article 3912e, Sec. 4, it is provided 

for the establishment of 'an officers salary fund 

in such county, Section 5 provides 'Itshall be 

the duty of all officers to charge and collect in 

the manner authorized by law all fees and commissions which are permitted by law to be assessed 

and collected for all official services performed 

by them, As and when such'fees are collected they 

shall be deposited in the Officers Salary Fund'. 

“Article 3941 is as follows: 'The county 

treasurer shall receive commissions on the moneys 

received and paid out by him, said commissions to 

be fixed by order of the commissioners court as 

follows: FOP receiving all moneys, other than 

school funds, for the county, not exceeding two 

and one-half per cent and not exceeding two and 

one-half per cent for paying out the same--' 

"Article 3943 limits the amount of commissions allowed to the Treasurer in any one year. 

In this county such limit would be $2020,00 per 

annum. 

"'The determination of the right of the county 

treasurer to fees upon a bond issue depends upon 

whether the county has received or is entitled to 

receive cash from the sale of its bonds'. 11 Tex. 

Jur, pg. 595. 

"'If commissions (to be collected by the County 

Treasurer) have not been fixed by order of the 

Commissioners' court the County Treasurer is entitled to receive the maximum fees of the statute', 

11 Tex, Jur. pg. 598. 

"While under the order of the Commissioners 

Cour’t and the above quoted provisions the County 

Treasurer would be entitled to receive only $600 

as his compensation it seems that it would be his 

duty to collect and pay to the Officers Salary 

Fund the full statutory commissions of 24 per cent 

for receiving and 2aper cent for paying out the 

money realized from the sale of such bonds. 
Honorable Eugene Brady, page 3 O-4991 

Hunt County has a population of approximately 48,717 

inhabitants according to the 1940 Federal Census and the County 

officials of said County are compensated on an annual salary 

basis by virtue of the Salary Law of this State. 

Under Section 1 of Article 3912e, Vernon's Annotated 

Civil Statutes, neither the State of Texas nor any county 

shall be charged with or pay to any of the officers so compensated on a salary basis, any fee or commission for the performance of any or all of the duties of their offices, save 

only the tax assessor and collector who shall continue to 

collect and retain for the benefitof the Officers Salary Fund 

or Funds provided for in the Act, all fees and commissions 

which he is authorized under the law to collect. The only 

fees, commissions and costs which the officers of the county, 

save only the tax assessor and collector, are authorized by 

law to collect, are those fees, commissions and costs that 

private parties are required to pay under the law, and costs 

in civil cases by the State. 

Accordingly, the commissions which the county treasurer 

would be authorized, otherwise, to receive moneys of the county 

received and disbursed by him, under Articles 3941-3943, inclusive, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, may no longer be 

collected from the county. To allow such collections would 

do violence to Section 1 of Article 3912e, supra, in that the 

county would thereby be charged with and pay such commissions 

for the performance by the county treasurer of his official 

duties, 

With reference to the bonds issued by Precinct 4 of 

Hunt County, if the road district funds are county funds, the 

county treasurer is clearly not entitled to any commission for 

handling them under the express provisions of Article 3912e, 

If they are not county funds and there is no statute 

tUhT;)iawe have been able to find allowing the treasurer commission for handling them, then the treasurer can not collect a 

commission, for none has been fixed and it has been made his 

duty to receive and disburse said funds by Article 752e, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes. 

The county treasurer would not be entitled to receive 

any commissions for handling funds acquired by the sale of 

bonds issued and sold by the county for the acquisition and 

improvements of land for an air field under the express provisions of Article 3912e, supra. Therefore, we respectfully 

answer the above stated question in the negative. 

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry, 

we are 
Honorable Eugene Brady, page 4 O-4991 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/Ardell Williams 

ArdellWilliams 

Assistant 

AW:mp:wc 

Encl. 

APPROVE0 DEC 3, 1942 

s/Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman