OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Iionorabl6 uill1.u 0. xopom~ld 

County Attorney 

A -_, 

Coke county 

Robert x.40, Texas 

Dear Slrr 

nion of thle department upon the 4b 

2‘ provldert 

!,~ 

I 

has born reoeivsa. 

ed Civil Statutes, 

6OhoO1 superinbe ox offiG 

cepeotlte counties and oondlttbiui p~rf0~m0~ or his 

PY 0f the OX 0friOi0 f~pOrin0 lnatruction in all countlea 

e, irom and aSlier September 3, 

the etats and oounty available 

The population of Coke County aocordlng to the 

1940 $ederal Ceneus is four thoueand rive hundred ninety 

(4690) Inhabitants. 

Artiola 3883, Vernon’e Annotated Qloi1 Statutes, 

reads In part as folloire: 
Honorable William C. #ODot¶alQ, Page 2 

'Except aa otherwire provldsd in thla hot, 

the ~+nrut7ii feea that may be retained by praolnot, 

aounty and dlatrlot offlosra mcntloned la thla 

article ehkll be as follorra: 

(25,O~~j thouaand or leea inhabitante; aount? 

In oountlee ooatainlng twenty-fire 

Judge, . . . 

Dollaro' 

Tynty-four Hundred ($2400.00) 

, . l . 

Article '3891, Vernon'e Annotated ClVll Btatutre, 

reads in part ae followe: 

Wioh orricer naaied in thie Chapter shall 

first out of the current Is88 of hla offior pay 

or be paid the emount allowed him under the provlalone of Artiole 3883, together vlth the ealarlee of hi8 aeslstante and deputies, and author1zeQ expeneeo under Artiole 3899, and the amount 

neoesaary to oover coet of prfmlum on vhatevor 

surety bond may be required by law. If the current feeo of suoh oifloe oolleatgd fn any year 

be more than the a@ount needed to pay the amounts 

above apeolflad, earn8 ahall be deemed 8X08SeP 

e.nd ohall be dlapoaed of in the manner herelnafter provided. 

*In oountlee containing twenty-flve thousand (25,000) or leas Inhabitants, dietriot and 

county orflcera named herein shall retain one2~ third of such exoeai3 ieea until auoh one-third, 

c together with the amounts ape&fled In Artlola 

1. 

3283, Fount3 to Three Thousand Dollara ($5000.00). 

i . . . 

p Art1018 3888, Vernon’e Annotated Civil Btatuteo, 

Provldea : 

aIn a oounty where the oounty Judge aote 

as superintendent of public lnatruotlon, he shall 

receive for euch aerviaaa Buoh ealary not to exceed Nine Hundred Dollara ($900.00) a year aa the 

county board of echo01 trueteee 0r the r86peotlve 

oountlea may provide. The amount ehall be paid 

In the manner apeclrled in Chapter 49, Aote 0r 

the Forty-firet Leglolature, Fourth.z?alled SeselOn, 

(Article 2?OOd-1) and in Chapter 175, hota OS the 
Htnorable ‘nillllam C. HoDonald, Page 3 

Forty-aeoond Leglslaturs, Regular DessIOn, (Art1010 

2827a). " 

Article 3895, Vernon’s Annotated Btatutrr, raada 

a0 follow; 

.I ; 

*The coawlee~onera' court III hereby debarred from 

allowing oompenaatlon for 8x-offloI0 8ervlcee to OOUnty offlolale vhen the compeneatlon and exoeaa Sees 

vhlch they are allowed to retain ahall reach-the aaxlmum provided for In tlale chapter. In oaeea uhere th8 

ooapenaatlon and exoeee Seer~whlch the oSSloce are 

allowed to retain &all not reach the nrorlrpun provided for In thIa chapter, the coaunloalonerr~ court 

shall allow ooapeosatlon for 8x o?flOIo aercpIcOe when, 

in thslr jUd@B8nt,0UCh OoPlpanaatlOn ia neCeeBBI?J, prOvlded, euch compensation for 8x oSSIolo rervloee allowed ohall not.lncreaee the compensation of the oifloial beyond the maximuni of compeneatlon and exoeaa 

See6 allowed to be retaInad by him under thlo chapter. 

Provided, however, the ex offlaio hareln authorized 

ahall be allowed only after an OpportunltJ for pubUo 

hearing and only upon the aSfLrmatIv8 vote of at 

least three siembera of the Uommireloners' oourt.a 

By tIrtue oftie ibove mentioned etatuteo, 6 OOUnty 

Judge In a county aontainlng lees than twenty thousand lnhabitante, who Is compensated on a See basis, retain the 

maximum of Twenty-four Hundred Dollara , and onethird OS the exoeee f8es,th0 maxImum compensation and excess 

See6 not to exceed Three Thousand Dollare (gsOOO.OO), making 

It posalble for the county udge to earn and retain a total 

Of Three Thouaand Dollarc ( 3000.00) per year aa hie maxImum 

Qomppenaation. In this oonneotlon, It le to be noted that 

county offlclale ln countire oontalnlng a population of twenty 

thoueand (20,OOO) lnhabltante or more wet be~aompeneated on 

UI annual salary baaia a@ preaorlbad by the ~Offlosrm SalarY 

Law". In counties oontalnlng a population of less than twenty 

thousand inijabltante, It 1s optional with the commIeslonere' 

Oourt whether said officers are to be compensated on an antIUti 

salary or fee baala, we are informed by the State Comptroller, 

the county offlclala of Coke County are compensated on a See 

baeis. 

Vlth referenae to Article 3888, supra, ne dlreot 

Your attention to ~the fact that this article hae been long 

Construed by this department aa bulng aocountable aa pet Of 

the maximum the officer could retain under the provl.rdone 

Of Article 3891,aupra, and the oounty judge la not entitled 

to the oompaneation provided by hrtlcle 3888 over and above 

hia maxlmum oompensatlon arrived at by reason of said Article 

3891. 

t 
Honorable Wllllam C. hoDonald, Page 4 

It has been oonsletentlp held by former admitistratlons OS thle oiiloe that the oonunlselon8rr~ oourt may 

allow a oounty judge ex offlollo oompeneatlon under AHlo 

3896, in any amount within the dieoretloa of that body tao 

long aa the total oS Sees earned plucl 8x oSSle10 may equal, 

but not exoeed, the maximum allowed by law, In thlr inetance, &axo,oo. 

. 

In Oplnlon lo. 2Sl0, rendered by thlr department 

on March 9, 1921, and printed In the Attorney Qentral'e 

Report6 and Oplnlonr for 1920-22, page 297, It wa8 held 

that the oounty judge, aotlng as 8x oiiloio county tohool 

auperlntendtnt uaa alaply periorslng addltlonal dutitr and ' 

the compensatloa for his .strvlore ae ex oftlclo county 

eohool euperlnttndent oonstltute a its a8 oounty JUdgt. 

In view OS the Soregoing authorltles you are rtepeotSully adtrioed that lt 1s the opinion OS thlr departmtnt that the maximum legal ealary of the county judge of 

Coke County, who la 8x offI. county eohool euperlntendent, 

1s Three Thoueand poliara ($2OCO.O0) per amum. 

Your queetlon wlth referenos to txpenets whloh uay 

bt dsduoted in arriving at tht maxkmum salary ie very geuerol ana epeoifiee no partloular dtdudtion that you may have 

in mind, therefore, it neoessarlly follow that we must aatvtr 

the aime in a general manner. The legal deduotlona that oan 

be mad8 are those whloh are ep8olSleU 1.n Artiole 3291 aud 

Article 3899, said deduction8 to be mad8 in oomplianoe with 

said statutea. 

Trusting that the Sortgolng ruiiy an~uers your 

inquiry, we art 

Yours very truly 

ATTORXEX CHCtWbU OF TEXAS 

nlr:Li4 

AP~ROVEDJA~ 16, lg41 

Ardell Wllllame 

Aesletant