OFFICE OF THE Al-i’ORNEY GENERAL OF TEX&5
**AUSTIN** 

## gau0c.M
--

Eonorable Tcm k. Craven county Auditor IcoLeman colmty kaco, Texas

Dear sir:

. partncint oi t received. nion of this destoted has been

the plan herelnafter a part of a revolving rslr,ation

of tho Focd intaot to KaLeman

I(3).Gin ~.:cI.orxl3.n coutg, out of it3 fUDd6, pay its propartionate rart of the coat oi rentals for facilities inv;hiohto house the %od Staq >liq Oi’fiC38?”. ,.

.

HonorableToz A. Craven, page 2 :

*Anew way of distributing surplus foods is being tried out. Instead of &ving sur-gluscorcodities to States .IcouAtic2, and citieswhich in the past hove distributed thazito Dco,7la rocoiving publio aid,.the yedersl Govsr.tx.ont will give Pcod order staips to these people directly. m-2 atsaps, whichwill bc aolored blue, can be taken to **gocery** stores where they can be used to obtain surplus foods as additions to the present family food sup- ~pliss+
WDveryone currently receiving surplus o~ffiruodities

will now be eligible to participate in the surplus comodity food star:, plan. In addition, people hvrking on ?j?Ajobs, and all other persons .receivingor cari;ified for any fororn

of pnbllo aid, can get the stxmps if theywant then,
*The **f00a** atamp plan is being carried out by the Department of Agriculture in oooperationwith city, county, and State welfare agencies and the grooers. The idea Is to nuke use of som of the
ram products ofwhich there has been a surplus because people did not have the money to buy then. Litany fanilies hava **been** goingwithout eno@ of the roodsthat are needed to.ksop childrec and gram-up people healthy, at the very sam ,tine that famsrs hnd zore of these foods than housewives could buy.
"Thenain idea of ths food Stan? plan is the 8axe as the idsa of the comoditp distribution that people are familiarwith -- to u3e part of the Pam surplus to give city fanilie3 a chance to Cave batter balanced diets; Eor?-aver, the star;p plan is different fro3 the old distribution p,larr..aa

it!oporated,

"If this plan is adopted in 2:oLeansn County, in the future, thsre will not bo any surplus co;=odity dopots. The T::ennrtxsnt of &&culture *;illu3~;athe surplus food pr;Cllcts. E'soplelisi,ng the stmps CQA go ri&t to the grocery stores thst am coo~sr+ing in the prsg~ar;

and us0 the on:-plus food order stangs to get any of t&&e surplcw csmod.ities that they want. leopla usiny the stazps will have a widar variety of surplm cexmdities t,ociioossfnm than they had at the distributiondepot... .; Honorable Tczi

A. Craven, Page 3

Trro n&hods of distribut.iasthe surplus food order sfa~pswill ba UEQ~. ena group, including thosewho ar% at Varrkon :!Psprojects and thosewho are reoeiving, or certified as'eligible to receive, publio asaizztanos, aid t.othe dependent children, and aid to ths blind,~111 be eligible to gat th% free bl.cesurplus stazzps,if they buy orange colored food order at&zps, with part of thofraPA or assistancepaylzents. These orange colored 8taEp8,which will be gmd for the purchase **of any**  **f00a usually**  **sOld in**  **a** grocery store, are to be bought-at the rate of aggroximatsly $1 a seek p%r,persoo for each'ne~bar of the faaily.

+Por 'eachtwoweeks pay p%~lod,.therafor%, the eligible personwould &v% to purchase orange colored stags at the rata of $2 per insnberof' his ftiily. Their use is to Insure that r%gul.ar food purchases.

are kept ut, so that food secured with the blu% surplus stZizps will be in addition to and not fn place of these regular purchases..', One blue surplus staz@will be &ven,fr%e with each~tvo oragce s$amps bought. $aoh'&tsp, whether blue.or'orange,.wIllbe good for 25 cents xor:thof 

### rood. For eaah $l'worth of brangs'stazp~ bought, the fanfly will reoeiva~M cen,ts wdrth..o~:teea.plue staaps. yor exanple,' a,-'f&&flp:

'~,~~&:',bu.j';

~za~ wo,.th of ,orang%staiilps Will get stamps without extra dost.$4 worth of blue surplus

Sectional of +,rticle23&e-2, F&n~n!~~'Aon~tat%d Civil Statutes, reads: ~,~.,'. :

. -, :,, Vh% County Cozziissioners Courts and tte City Coz~ls~ion of any incorporabod tovm or city of this State are hereby authorized-to lsas?, rent, 0: .p,gg-v+_do.qfPFce sfa%wfdr tfie~~jkT$oa%'~of ~aJdI@~ana cooperatingwith the azencias of the Ststs asd ?e?eral Govcrtieots ongaged int3e adninistratios of relief to tte unsnpioyed or nesdy people or t5% State of 'icxaa, an-3to pay the razulqrmonthly utilitybi1l.s for such offices, such
as lights, gas, andwater; aaci whsn in the opicion o$ a aa:aJority of e CozGssior,ers 'Cxrt of a comtg such office sgac3 is os:;ential~ to t5e proper edzinintration OI+such a,:%nci%aor either the State or Federal Govexzmnts, sr:ldColrrtis hereby agecifically author:z%d to py fo::sa&:eacd Tar the r$gulsrmonthly utility bills 

### for such officae**,** 

## 62

HonorableTOzk

A. Craven, Page 4

out ofthe Countyfs cemral Tuz& by warrants aa In the sayzent of such other obligations or the count Y."
7b c;UOt8

fI"JZI TaXa JlUisplWdQuC8,vO1W8 11,~pp. 564 and 565, as follows:

-CoIxnl~ssioners'

courts are courts of 1l!nited jurisdiction, in that their authm:ty extenda only tq zatters pastaining to the geaornlwalfare of their resgmtive counties and that their povlere are only thosa express1.y or izgliedly conferred upon thea by law, .--that is, by the oontititution a&d statutesof the state.* Tee the cases of Sun Vapor Zlectric Light Co. v, Keenan, 30 S. :cz. 868; Hill County Y. fianllton,273 9. -I?:'. 292; Seward v. Falls County, 246 5. 7;.728. i

38 quote irmthe ease of Cozmissionors*Co& V. Eellace, 15 S. ci.~ (21%) 555, as -follozvs:,,.
Vhe Cozzissfoners Court is a creature ot the State Constitution**an8** its passers are llrcited

end controlledby the Constitutionand the laws es passed by the LegislatL-e."

.?eare uhable to tiud any authoritythat:-expressly
or lr~liedlyauthorizes the Comissionersl Court to do any thing Eentioaed in your first tv;oqusstions. Therefore your questions 3.

and 2 are **respeCtfUlly** ansuzerod in the ne~ati78.
Article 2372e-2, supra, speoiZ'icaliy aub.horizes the oonnty com.zission3rs'~ court to lease, rent, or provide officcispace for the purpose of aid and cooperatingwith the agencies of the ,Stato ana Federal GovernEontsmga5ed in the adr;ini3tration of relief to the uucnployedor needy I$&~&!$;$~ o~Ii‘ic,8~; such-$..-~i$he;,

ias,'ritiC

water;.

vihen **St@5 aF;dj+,~,~::s,~,-t:1Ed-:Te~U~~gG-~D;i~y**  **‘ Ut$klitp**  **~-** in ths opinion or 3 jzzjorityof t& cszissioners of said court of t.hocounty such office s;ace is essential to the proz3rackinistr:~tlon of sucha;cncias of eithar tke State 

### or ~oderslGovsrumnts. As i':e un:?srstnr?d

the Plots stated in your inquiry The yood Sts-p 2larP is opsrated under the s'ugervision

o?Tthe F&era1 Gavermant. Thereforeyour thZrd qusstion is nnsmre9 in the affirr.lc!tive.Eonorable 'lam$. Craven, Page 5

';rustingthat ths foregoIng fully answers your jncciries,we r32afn b Yours very trnly

r

Art%11 WilliamS Assistant

‘a 9.

.’

ATTORNEYGEWERAL.or' Tmfj