WVILL WILSON AusTIN "' TExas 

ATroRNEY GENERAI. December 13, 1962 

Dr. J. W. Edgar Opinion No. WW-1495 

Commissioner of Education 

Texas Education Agency Re: In either of the abolishment 

Austin, Texas situations stated, whether 

the county judges are entitled 

to have,'an assistant as provided in Article 3888, Vernon's Civil Statutes, for ex 

officio school superintendents 

Dear Dr. Edgar: and related question. 

In your request for an opinion from this office you 

ask a question which is substantially as follows: 

Whether a county judge of a county subject to the 

provisions of Section 1 of Article 2688e, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

or a county judge of a county which elects to abolish the office 

of county superintendent or ex officio county superintendent under 

the provisions of Section la of Article 2688h, Vernon's Civil 

Statutes, is authorized to have an assistant, an office and travel 

expense account as prescribed for ex officio county judges in 

Article 3888, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended. 

The office of ex officio county superintendent is established by Article 2701, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended, 

1953. This Article provides in part as follows: 

"In each county having no school superintendent, 

the county judge shall be ex-officio county superintendent and shall perform all the duties required of 

the county superintendent in this chapter. . .,. The 

county board shall name or appoint an assistant to 

the ex-officio county superintendent and shall provide for office and traveling of the ex-officio superinctendent. The salary of the ex-officio superintendent 

of public instruction, the salary of the assistant exofficio superintendent of public instruction and the 

office and traveling expenses for the office of the exofficio superintendent in all counties in Texas shall 

be from and after September 1, 1947, paid from the 

State and County Available' School Fund, and shall be 

received and retained in addition to all other compensation provided by law whether the county judge is 
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 2 (WW-1495) 

compensated on a fee or salary basis." 

The compensation of ex officio county superintendents 

and assistant ex officio county superintendents is provided for 

in Article 3888, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended, 1953. The 

pertinent provisions of this Article are quoted as follows: 

"In a county where the county judge acts as 

an ex-officio county superintendent of public instruction, he shall receive and retain in addition 

to all other compensation provided by law not more 

than Two Thousand, Six Hundred ($2,600.00) Dollars 

a year, as the county board of school trustees .of 

the respective counties may provide, whether he is 

compensated on a fee or salary basis. In such a 

county an ex-officio assistant superintendent of 

public instruction shall receive not more than 

Two Thousand, Six Hundred ($2,600.00) Dollars a 

year, as the county board of school trustees of 

the respective counties may provide. 

"The county judge while acting as ex-officio 

county superintendent of public instruction, for 

office and traveling expenses may receive an amount 

not to exceed One Thousand Fifty ($1,050.00) Dollars 

a year, as the county board of school trustees of 

the respective counties may provide. . . .' 

Senate Bill No. 192, 57th Leg., Regular Session, 1961, 

codified as Article 2688e, Vernon's Civil Statutes, was written 

in order to provide a more adequate procedure for the abolishment of the office of county superintendent authorized under 

the provisions of Article 2688, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as 

amended. Our attention is directed to Section 1 of Article 

2688e, Vernon's Civil Statutes. The provisions of Section 1 most 

important to our discussion, are as follows: 

"Section 1. 

(25% I 

a) Upon a petition of twentyfive per cent of the qualified voters who 

cast a vote in the Governor's race at the preceding General Election in counties of less than one 

hundred thousand (100,000) population according 

to the last Federal Census; or upon a petition of 

twenty per cent (20%) of the qualified voters who 

cast a vote in the Governor's race at the preceding 

General Election in counties of one hundred thousand 

(100,000) or more population according to the last 
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 3 (WW-l&95'):- .': i 

Federal Census, the zounty judge shall within., 

ninety (90) days of the receipt of such petition 

call an election to determine by majority vote 

whether the office o,f cownty.superintendent (or 

ex-officio county sype~rintendent and the county 

school board in counties, having an..ex-officio 

county superintendent) shall be abolished. . . . 

"(c) Where the majority of the qualified 

electors approve the abolition of the office of 

the ex-officio county superintendent and county 

school board, the duties of such abolished offices 

as may still be required by law shall be and become the dutiesof the office of county judge of 

said ~county upon the expiration of the current 

term of office of the ex-officio,countv sunerin-,~.. 

tendent, and said county judge shall not be entitled to nor receive any additional compensation 

as a result o:f these additional'duties. . . .". " 

‘(Emphasis added) 

In view of the fact that the office of county superintendent and the county school board in certain countries had 

few or no duties to perform because the common school.districts 

had largely become independent school districts outside the 

jurisdiction of the county superintendent, Senate Bill No. 100, 

57th Legislature, Third Called Session, 1962, codified by Vernon's as Article 2688h, was enacted to abolish the office of 

county school superintendent and the county school board in such 

counties. We quote from Section l(a) of Article 2688h, as 

follows: 

"Section 1. (a) From and after the effective 

date of this Act the office of the county board of 

school trustees and the office of county superintendent shall cease to exist in any county in this 

State having a population of not less than seventy 

five thousand (75,000) and not more than one hundred 

twenty-five thousand (125,000) according to the last 

preceding Federal Census which has not more than one 

(1) common school district and whose county ad valorem 

evaluation is in excess of One Hundred Forty Million 

Dollars ($140,000,000); provided, however, that the 

county superintendents in such counties who have 

been heretofore elected or appointed to the office 

of county superintendent shall serve until the expiration of the term for which they were elected or 

appointed. The duties now performed 'by the board 
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 4 (w-w-1495) 

of school trustees and county superintendents in 

such counties shall be performed by the county 

judges of such counties; provided further that 

said county judges shall not be entitled to nor 

receive any additional compensation as a result 

of these additional dutie9.l . . ." 

The clear and unambiguous language employed In 

each of the abolishment statutes, supra, Is that a county 

judge is not entitled to receive any additional compensation 

as a result of any additional duties which may be imposed. 

Therefore, it is our opinion that neither a County 

Judge of a county subject to the provisions of Section 1 of 

Article 2688e, Vernon's Civil Statutes, nor a County Judge of 

a county which abolishes the office of County Superintendent 

or ex officio county superintendent under the provisions of 

Section l(a) of Article 2688h, Vernon's Civil Statutes, is 

authorized to have an assistant or receive any compensation 

under the provisions of Article 3888 of Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

as amended. 

ADramria, Galveston and Wichita Counties are presently affected 

by the provisions of this Section. 

SUMMARY 

The provisions of Article 3888, Vernon's Civil 

Statutes, as amended, are not applicable to County 

Judges of certain counties. 

Sincerely, 

WILL WILSON 

1RW:mkh 
Dr. J. W. Edgar, Page 5 @W-1$95) 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Grundy Williams 

Albert Pruitt 

Ogden Bass 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: Leonard Passmore